String Quartet (Bruckner)
Encyclopedia
Anton Bruckner
's String Quartet in C minor WAB
111 was written in 1862 as a student exercise for Otto Kitzler, a preliminary to exercises in orchestration. Bruckner did not bequeath the score as he did his later works, and so it wound up in Munich
, where it was discovered there in 1950 by the Koeckert Quartet.
The piece is a conventional string quartet
in the usual four movements:
The Quartet was premiered by the Koeckert Quartet in February 1951 in a Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor
broadcast, and next month in a concert.
Unlike his later works, Bruckner gave few indications as to phrasing, while dynamics appear only at a few key points. Rudolf Koeckert allowed Leopold Nowak
to put his group's phrasing and dynamics into the Gesamtausgabe parts. However, the Gesamtausgabe score contains only those markings in Bruckner's hand.
The exposition of the first movement is marked for repeat; the only other Bruckner work with such a repeat is the Study Symphony
. The Andante mirrors Beethoven's choice of key for a slow movement after a C minor Allegro, but having the central section in the parallel minor is something Bruckner never does again. Biographer Derek Watson finds the Trio of the Scherzo "has a Schubertian, freshly bucolic charm." The Rondo is in ABACABA form, with the B theme first appearing in E-flat major and later in C major
, and the last turn of the A theme being highly ornamented.
A week after completing the composition, Kitzler tasked with Bruckner with writing a longer Rondo. Though the key and the form are "the same both times," in which "the rondo theme [the A theme] appears four times, enclosing three episodes of which the first and third must be described as lyric groups" and the later Rondo is only slightly longer, the later Rondo has new themes. But Bruckner never intended the new Rondo as a replacement in performance, since he intended neither piece for performance. The later Rondo is sometimes offered as an additional track in recordings.
. Where the Koeckert Quartet actually disregarded the few dynamics markings Bruckner gave, the Fine Arts Quartet
obeys Bruckner's markings but mostly ignores Koeckert's.
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
's String Quartet in C minor WAB
Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckner
The Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckners is a thematic catalogue of the music of Anton Bruckner compiled by Renata Grasberger. Grasberger did not include any unfinished compositions nor lost works. Lost works, sketches, etc. were added afterwards...
111 was written in 1862 as a student exercise for Otto Kitzler, a preliminary to exercises in orchestration. Bruckner did not bequeath the score as he did his later works, and so it wound up in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where it was discovered there in 1950 by the Koeckert Quartet.
The piece is a conventional string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
in the usual four movements:
- Allegro moderato, C minorC minorC minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
, common timeCommon Time"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction... - Andante, A-flat major, 3/4, with Minore section in A-flat minor
- Scherzo, Presto G majorG majorG major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
, 3/4, Trio - Rondo, Schnell, C minor, 2/4
The Quartet was premiered by the Koeckert Quartet in February 1951 in a Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor
Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor
RIAS was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War. It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War II in 1946 to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political reporting and was initially only broadcast on...
broadcast, and next month in a concert.
Unlike his later works, Bruckner gave few indications as to phrasing, while dynamics appear only at a few key points. Rudolf Koeckert allowed Leopold Nowak
Leopold Nowak
Leopold Nowak was a musicologist chiefly known for editing the works by Anton Bruckner for the International Bruckner Society. He reconstructed the original form of some of those works, most of which had been revised and edited many times.Nowak was born in Vienna, Austria. He studied piano and...
to put his group's phrasing and dynamics into the Gesamtausgabe parts. However, the Gesamtausgabe score contains only those markings in Bruckner's hand.
The exposition of the first movement is marked for repeat; the only other Bruckner work with such a repeat is the Study Symphony
Study Symphony
Anton Bruckner's Study Symphony in F minor, , or simply Symphony in F minor, WAB 99, was written in 1863 as an exercise under Otto Kitzler's instruction in form and orchestration. Scholars at first believed that the next symphony Bruckner wrote was Symphony No. 0 in D minor, thus this symphony is...
. The Andante mirrors Beethoven's choice of key for a slow movement after a C minor Allegro, but having the central section in the parallel minor is something Bruckner never does again. Biographer Derek Watson finds the Trio of the Scherzo "has a Schubertian, freshly bucolic charm." The Rondo is in ABACABA form, with the B theme first appearing in E-flat major and later in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
, and the last turn of the A theme being highly ornamented.
A week after completing the composition, Kitzler tasked with Bruckner with writing a longer Rondo. Though the key and the form are "the same both times," in which "the rondo theme [the A theme] appears four times, enclosing three episodes of which the first and third must be described as lyric groups" and the later Rondo is only slightly longer, the later Rondo has new themes. But Bruckner never intended the new Rondo as a replacement in performance, since he intended neither piece for performance. The later Rondo is sometimes offered as an additional track in recordings.
Discography
The Quartet has been recorded a few times, usually coupled with the String Quintet, such as by the Amadeus QuartetAmadeus Quartet
The Amadeus Quartet was a world famous string quartet founded in 1947.Because of their Jewish origin, violinists Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel and Peter Schidlof were driven out of Vienna after Hitler's Anschluss of 1938...
. Where the Koeckert Quartet actually disregarded the few dynamics markings Bruckner gave, the Fine Arts Quartet
Fine Arts Quartet
The Fine Arts Quartet, a distinguished chamber music ensemble founded in Chicago, USA in 1946 by Leonard Sorkin and George Sopkin, has an illustrious history of performing success and an extensive recording legacy. It is one of the few to have recorded and toured internationally for over half a...
obeys Bruckner's markings but mostly ignores Koeckert's.
External links
- Discography of the Quartet and of the additional Rondo by Hans Roelofs