String Quartet in E minor (Verdi)

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The string quartet in E minor is a chamber music work by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi . It was written in 1873, two years after the premiere of the opera Aida , before the composition of the Messa da Requiem . The premiere took place on April 1, 1873 as a private performance in the reception hall of the Albergo della crocelle in Naples .

Emergence

Verdi's only string quartet was written during rehearsals for the Neapolitan premiere of Aida at the Teatro San Carlo , where Verdi had traveled with his wife Giuseppina . After the rehearsals were delayed because of the indisposition of the singer Teresa Stolz , who was supposed to sing Aida , Verdi found time to compose the string quartet. The world premiere took place two days after the Aida premiere in private. Verdi had initially not planned the work for publication, but after another successful performance on June 1, 1876 in the Paris Hôtel de Bade, it was given to his publisher Ricordi . In the same year the work was published by Ricordi, Schott (Mainz) and Escudier in Paris.

Sentence names

  1. Allegro
  2. Andantino con eleganza
  3. Prestissimo (from the musical form a Scherzo )
  4. Scherzo. Fugue . Allegro assai mosso.

The playing time is about 24 minutes.

analysis

Despite the echoes of Aida , which are found mainly in the 1st set, Verdi oriented in his String Quartet mainly at the Viennese classics , with Wolfgang Stähr because of the fugue in the final movement a formal adaptation of Joseph Haydn's op String Quartet in C major. 20 No. 2 suspected. Julian Budden, on the other hand, sees parallels in the first movement with Mozart's string quintet in G minor .

The 1st movement corresponds to the sonata form . First, the second violin performs the main theme on the lowest string, in bar 1 dolce , in bar 2 sotto voce (with half part). The secondary theme is intoned by the cello in measure 11 . In the implementation , which are also elements of the counterpoint receives a lyrical third theme is introduced. According to Otto Emil Schumann , “the concise imagery is retained” in the development.

The 2nd movement, the Andantino, is tripartite. There is a “slight melancholy in A minor”, ​​but this is canceled out by the “moving power of the middle section” in G flat major.

The third movement corresponds to a scherzo . The tempo is at first prestissimo (very fast), like a danse infernale (hellish dance), while the trio is more vocal and, like a serenade, is initially intoned by the cello, then picked up by the first violin and accompanied by the pizzicato of the other strings.

In the final movement, the Verdi with Scherzo. Fuga called, shows up in the Fuga a counterpoint to the Messa da Requiem , the final fugue in Falstaff and the hymn to Mary in the Quattro pezzi sacri points. The fugal form of the movement is retained until the end, but is enriched by a "lovely harmony and cadences."

In addition to the Viennese classical and counterpoint-oriented sites can be found in Verdi's String Quartet quite operatic elements in individual figures of the accompanying voices or the cello - Cantilena in the third set. Budden also referred to this stylistic device: "[...] the occasional slide into a frieze-like figuration reveals the composer of accompanying figures, as are common in opera."

reception

Verdi's string quartet is in the context of the conflict between the predominant genre of opera in Italy and pure instrumental music. In Verdi's opinion, the string quartet lived in Italy “like a plant outside of its climate”. Initially, the Società del Quartetto (Quartet Society) in Florence founded by Abramo Basevi in 1861 did nothing to change this situation .

Verdi's string quartet, which is often viewed as an occasional work, is nonetheless the only Italian chamber music work of the 19th century that was able to remain consistently in the concert repertoire . This was also confirmed by Otto Emil Schumann in his Handbuch der Kammermusik : "The musical Italy of the 19th century produced only one really important chamber music work that was able to establish itself all over the world: Verdi's E minor string quartet."

Budden summed up: "Verdi's quartet may not quite reach the level of the great classical quartets, but it is certainly a beautiful and original contribution to the repertoire."

Verdi himself did not attach great importance to the work and later said: "I don't know whether it is good or bad, but it is a quartet."

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Norbert Graf: Quartetto in Mi minore. In: Anselm Gerhard, Uwe Schweikert: Verdi manual. Metzler, Kassel and Bärenreiter, Stuttgart / Weimar 2001, p. 520 f.
  2. ^ Norbert Graf: Quartetto in Mi minore. In: Anselm Gerhard, Uwe Schweikert: Verdi manual. Metzler, Kassel and Bärenreiter, Stuttgart / Weimar 2001, p. 520 f.
  3. ↑ Stähr, in: Berliner Philharmoniker's program from September 26, 2007  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.berliner-philharmoniker.de  
  4. ^ Julian Budden: Verdi life and work. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2000, p. 320.
  5. ↑ Analysis by Julian Budden: Verdi life and work. 2000, p. 321, supplemented by Schumann: Handbuch der Kammermusik, p. 277.
  6. ↑ a b c Otto E. Schumann: Handbook of Chamber Music. Herrsching 1983, pp. 276-278.
  7. ↑ Analysis by Julian Budden: Verdi life and work. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2000, p. 322.
  8. ^ Analysis by Norbert Graf: Quartetto in Mi minore. In: Anselm Gerhard, Uwe Schweikert (ed.): Verdi manual. 2001, p. 521. Graf erroneously refers to the Ave Maria instead of the Laudine alla Vergine Maria .
  9. ↑ a b c Quote Julian Budden: Verdi life and work. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2000, p. 322.
  10. ^ Quote from Julian Budden: Verdi life and work. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2000, p. 319.