The new edition contains both the earlier version and an earlier correction he planned to make in it”. According to the editor of the volume, Tuija Wicklund, “Sibelius struggled with the ending of the quartet, and he even changed it during the publication process. Many people thought this was Sibelius’s only string quartet, possibly because it was the only one to be printed and recorded during his lifetime.Ĭo-editor of the volume, conductor Pekka Helasvuo, points out “ an interesting change of rhythm in the third movement that is likely to draw the players’ attention”. 56) was composed almost two decades later, in 1909. The fourth and last one ( Voces intimae, Op. 4) a good year after this, and some movements were performed more than once, most recently in 1915. He composed the third quartet (B-flat major, Op. His next quartet (A minor, JS 183) was the work that marked the completion of his studies in 1889, and it was performed at the Institute’s soiree. This is fiercely accented music of forceful contrasts but irresistible momentum.Sibelius composed his first string quartet (E-flat major, JS 184) for home music-making in the summer of 1885, before he started his studies at the Helsinki Music Institute. Initially marking the movement Allegro, Sibelius adds più allegro (more lively), then poco a poco più allegro ed energico (little by little more lively and energetic), and then sempre più energico (always more energetic), as the music rushes onward like the homeward bound Lemminkäinen of Sibelius' epic tone poem. A more impetuous sort of figuration is prominent in the fiery finale, with more than a hint of folk fiddling. Like the first scherzo, the second scherzo is motivically related to the first movement, and it also shares the opening movement's murmuring figures. It was over these chords that Sibelius wrote the words "voces intimae" in a friend's score, suggesting a personal reference. Uncertainty is immediately apparent harmonically in this Adagio, and as the music slithers into a new key area, there are suddenly three detached, soft chords in E minor, remote from any of the previous harmonic implications. A fleetly ricocheting scherzo in A major follows directly, further linked to the first with motivic connections.Ī soulful quest for serenity in F major lies at the center of the work. The work begins with an introductory bit of dialog between first violin and cello, leading into a movement punctuating murmurous figuration with firm chords. The subtitle, "Intimate Voices," suggests both the conversational quality of chamber music and the inwardness of Sibelius' ruminations. Often spare and brooding, the five-movement Quartet anticipates the Fourth Symphony far more than it reflects the brighter rituals of the Third Symphony. One of the last pieces he wrote on a four-year contract with the publisher Robert Lienau, it was premiered in Berlin in January 1910. The String Quartet, "Voces intimae," was composed in winter 1908-09, between the Third and Fourth Symphonies and during a time of health and financial crises. Only one, though, dates from his artistic maturity. Sibelius was a middling violinist himself, and he wrote a fair amount of chamber music in his student years, including at least three full string quartets and a number of shorter pieces for four string players.
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