Program Notes - December 9, 2008
Tokyo String Quartet
Program Notes by Robert Finn
String Quartet, op. 28
Anton Webern
The two Webern works on this program present a vivid contrast between the composer’s early, more lyrical style (in the Rondo) and the enigmatic, fragmentary language of the string quartet written 30-plus years later.
The quartet, whose three tiny movements take only about eight or nine minutes to perform, is written in the twelve-tone technique that Webern learned from his teacher Arnold Schoenberg. It may not be readily apparent to the first-time listener, but the piece employs techniques, such as canonic writing, that reflect Webern’s deep knowledge of Renaissance and Baroque music. The twelve-tone row of pitches on which the work is based begins with the famous B-A-C-H motive that has inspired music from many other composers.
Webern’s musical language in this piece makes frequent use of the contrast between bowed and plucked string sounds and also between carefully calculated degrees of loud-soft playing. The music seems to consist of small cells of sound strung together, separated by meaningful pauses and only occasionally elaborated into longer extended statements. The minuscule second movement, a Webernian scherzo which lasts less than two minutes, is particularly intriguing.
Rondo (1906)
Anton Webern
This piece may come as a surprise to those who look upon Anton Webern’s works as a series of brief and insoluble musical puzzles. Brief it is, but it has a clearly audible formal structure and an undeniable melodic appeal that show both Webern’s roots in the Viennese musical tradition and his desire to stretch that tradition in a new and more “modernist” (for 1906) direction.
Webern wrote this piece at age 23,the age at which he received his doctorate from the University of Vienna. It was apparently intended as one movement of a longer work that he never completed. Its opening establishes an unmistakable triple-time waltz-like rhythm and a strong melodic appeal. The reappearances of the opening theme are separated by declamatory, dramatic outbursts, a tiny reflective section, a kind of conversational exchange among the four players and other features – all this in just a bit over seven minutes of music! The ending is imaginative; the music slows down and spirals very softly upward into the highest register of the violin, followed by a single low pizzicato note to put a final period to Webern’s paragraph.
String Quartet in F major, opus 135
Beethoven
This is the last of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets, and in fact one of the last pieces he completed before his death. It is generally lighter in spirit and texture -- and certainly shorter -- than the four “late” quartets that preceded it.
Many commentators have speculated about the significance of the two motives that run through this quartet’s final movement. Beethoven dubbed them a question and answer: “Mustit be?” – “It must be” – but he seems to have had a humorous reason for this relating to some money he was owed by a patron, rather than any deep philosophical point. The character of the music certainly supports a joking intent.
The opening movement sets a genial, easygoing conversational mood. In the brief second movement the mood becomes downright playful – note the offbeat accents in the main theme and the insistently repeated ostinato grumbling figure that brings us back to the return of the opening section.
The slow movement is a peaceful expanse of serene beauty cast in the form of a theme and variations. About halfway through a dark cloud passes over the music, but the final pages are almost reverent in their calmness. The finale begins with the question-and-answer episode, elaborated melodramatically but seemingly with a twinkle in the Beethovenian eye. It soon gives way to a cheerful allegro whose jaunty melody is interrupted only once by a return of the “question” motive. Whatever Beethoven may have meant by this little game, the upbeat ending brings it to a happy conclusion.
String Quartet in F Major
Ravel
Ravel’s only string quartet was written in 1902-1903 and premiered the following year. It was dedicated to the composer Gabriel Faure, who nonetheless had some fairly stringent criticisms to offer about it.
There was much discussion when this quartet was new about its stylistic indebtedness to Debussy. All the speculation actually soured the cordial friendship of the two men. At first Debussy’s reaction to the piece had been highly favorable (“in the name of the gods of music, and in mine, do not touch a single note of what you have written…”).
Despite the early date of composition, this is no “early work.” It shows Ravel in the full floodtide of his imagination, harmonic and coloristic invention and technical skill. The first movement begins with a flowing melody that will reappear in a different guise in the third movement. The movement is full of romantic lyricism, salted with brief hints of dramatic tension and even passion before its quiet close.
The remarkable scherzo movement displays an intricate accompaniment pattern of pizzicato and little trills that surround the main theme. Some have detected in this movement Ravel’s impression of the sound of a Javanese gamelan ensemble. It is also remarkable for a long drawn-out transition passage that leads us gently back from the slower middle section to a shortened repeat of the opening section.
The slow movement is full of quiet musings, and there are prominent recalls of the first movement’s opening theme. Another arresting episode is a brief recitative by the cello answered by high-lying violin chords. The finale, after an opening call to attention, presents a graceful theme that is varied and developed in a mood that might be described as controlled or suppressed agitation – but everything is expressed with Ravel’s characteristic elegance.