String Quartets (Schumann)

The three string quartets by Robert Schumann were composed in 1842. They are:

  • String Quartet Op. 41 No. 1 in A minor
  • String Quartet Op. 41 No. 2 in F
  • String Quartet Op. 41 No. 3 in A

Background and first performance

The quartets Op. 41 are Schumann's only string quartets, and were composed after studying the quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He had sketched some ideas for quartets a few years before 1842, but they had been abandoned; in February of that year he considered again writing quartets.[1][2]

Because of depression he was unable to compose for a period; eventually on 4 June he started work on the first quartet, and he finished the third quartet on 22 June. They were first performed on 13 September, as a present for his wife Clara on her 23rd birthday.[1][2]

They were first published in 1843 by Breitkopf & Härtel, and dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn.[3][4][5]

Movements

String Quartet No. 1
  1. Andante espressivo — Allegro
  2. Scherzo: Presto
  3. Adagio
  4. Presto

String Quartet No. 2
  1. Allegro vivace
  2. Andante quasi variazioni
  3. Scherzo: Presto
  4. Finale: Allegro molto vivace

String Quartet No. 3
  1. Andante espressivo — Allegro molto moderato
  2. Assai agitato
  3. Adagio molto
  4. Finale: Allegro molto vivace
gollark: I was *surprised* by how many people somehow *did not get it*.
gollark: The uninstall thing is meant to be mildly complex and prevent programs from automatically uninstalling it by queueing key events.
gollark: Instead of just... [search engine]ing it.
gollark: But people often go "O NO HOW DO I DELET" and "HELP THIS IS DIFFICULT MATHS PROBLEM WHAT DO I DO".
gollark: You literally run `uninstall` and factor a semiprime, which is a simple operation you can do with one Linux command or a bunch of web things.

References
  1. String Quartet No. 1 Op. 41, Robert Schumann LA Phil. Retrieved 14 January 2018. Via Wayback Machine.
  2. Peter F. Ostwald, Schumann: the inner voices of a musical genius. UPNE, 1987. Page 173.
  3. Schumann String Quartet No. 1: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
  4. Schumann String Quartet No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
  5. Schumann String Quartet No. 3: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.