String Quartet No. 1 (Martinů)
- String Quartet No. 1 (Martinů)
String Quartet No 1., (H. 117) (the French Quartet), is a chamber composition by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů.
Background
Martinů was strongly drawn to the string quartet form since his childhood. He created the first quartet, based on the poem "Tři jezdci" by Czech poet Jaroslav Vrchlický, at the age of eight [Sleeve note of the Supraphon recording (SU 3917-2), p. 4] . However, Martinů´s juvenile works remain forgotten, they´ve become archival matters, and it´s difficult to reconstruct them [Sleeve note of the Supraphon recording (SU 3917-2), p. 4] . The first step to the world of the quartet writting made Martinů with his "French Quartet". The work was composed in Polička in 1918. In 1925 Martinů intended to perform the composition in Paris, with Ševčík Quartet. Nevertheless, the quartet was premièred not until 1927, in Brno.
Structure
The composition consists of four movements:
*1. Moderato. Alegro ma non troppo
*2. Andante moderato
*3. Allegro non troppo
*4. Allegro
The "French Quartet", named for the work Impressionist mood, is influenced by the works of Debussy and Ravel. It´s longest of all Martinů quartets. The Martinů´s typical individual style isn´t apparent in that work yet, but the quartet contains the unquestionable quality and counts among the interesting examples of the composer´s early chamber works [Sleeve note of the Supraphon recording (SU 3917-2), p. 5] .
The approximate duration of the work is 36 minutes.
Notes
References
*Martinů. String Quartets. Complete recording. Panocha Quartet. [http://www.supraphon.cz/cs/katalog/databaze-titulu/detail-titulu/?idtitulu=2013299] (sleeve note)
External links
[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/july03/martinubrilliant.htm Info on musicweb-international.com]
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