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Notes by Michael Lebovitch
HAYDN: String Quartet in G major, Op. 76 No. 1 (1797)
The death of Prince Nicolaus on September 28, 1790 had a profound effect on the Esterhazy household. Prince Nicolaus spent lavishly on his orchestra, and its famed Kapellmeister, to the point of putting a significant strain on the finances of Esterhazy family. His son, Prince Anton, as his first act, dismissed most of his musicians, and its Kapellmeister, changing the nature of his relationship with Haydn to an advisory role. Haydn took full advantage of this autonomy and accepted an invitation from Johann Peter Salomon, a music impresario, to visit London. Haydn made two hugely successful tours of London for which he composed a series of symphonies, known as the “London” Symphonies, as well as a number other works. This exposure to great musicians of the Salomon’s orchestra who performed his symphonies in public concerts, had a profound influence on him. All remaining string quartets yet to be composed, including the six quartets of Op. 76, had now a grander sound and scale to them, clearly designed for public concerts rather than private, chamber performances at the Esterhazy court.
The Op. 76 quartets were published in 1799 with a dedication to Count Joseph Erdody, a long-term family friend and supporter. This was yet another sign of his freedom: the ability to dedicate a composition to a friend, something Haydn could not have done while in service to the Esterhazy family. Important to note that the woman Count Erdody married in 1796 became an early and very important supporter of Haydn, and Beethoven, and thus, paving the way for these artists to independence, allowing them to earn a living from their art as opposed to being in service to nobility or royalty.
The 1st movement of string quartet Op. 76 No. 1 starts with three strong introductory chords, followed by a theme announced first by the cello and then by viola. The theme sounds like it wants to be a fugue, but it is not the case, although the treatment and development of the subject is very contrapuntal. The second subject is very engaging. The movement is in a classic sonata form, the themes return in the recapitulation section of the movement much varied and altered.
The 2nd movement is a remarkable Adagio sostenuto, a kind of slow Rondo: the nobility of its soft-voiced refrain (varied with each reappearance) is broken by dramatically agitated episodes, an exceptionally high and often syncopated first violin part. The 3rd movement, a Menuet, is a brisk scherzo with a yodeling-like trio. The Finale is a single-themed sonata form. The development section of the movement is notable for extraordinary bold modulations, but returns in its recapitulation to a sunny G major key.
SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 (1946)
Shostakovich considered the string quartet a particularly difficult art form. It may explain his initial reluctance to explore this genre. By the time he composed his first string quartet Op. 49, he already composed five symphonies, two operas, and several ballet and film scores. String Quartet No. 3 is from 1946, right after completing his Ninth Symphony, during the time all of Europe, and Russia specifically, was just recovering from the horrors of World War II.
Even though Shostakovich was a great admirer of Beethoven whose quartets served as his models, in the Third quartet he breaks with the classical structure: the quartet is in 5 movements. In the first two movements (the First movement is in a sonata form, with fugal development section, and the Second movement is a rondo) he playfully handles classical forms. The Third movement is parodistic and grotesque, the satire of its subjects so common to many of his works. The Forth movement is a Passaccaglia: an extraordinary expression of grief and suffering. The Finale is a rondo again: it is symphonic in scale.
How fortunate for us all that he recovered from his “reluctance” – in the end, he left us 15 magnificent quartets that stand alongside of other 20th century masterpieces of Bartok, Stravinsky and others. For Shostakovich, the string quartet genre, with its intimate, chamber-like textures, became an expression of anger, grief, despair, and impotence against the forces of the Soviet apparatchiks so often aligned against him.
MENDELSSOHN: Quartet in a minor, Op. 13, “Ist Es Wahr?” (“Is It True?”) (1827)
Mendelssohn drew part of his inspiration for this quartet from Beethoven’s monumental late quartets, which he had just heard and which overwhelmed him with their many advanced features and their amazing scope and spirituality. He paid these works the greatest possible compliment by adapting several of the techniques Beethoven used—integrated movements, fugal textures, new tonal effects, and more adventuresome harmonies—into his own quartet writing.
The composer was also stimulated by the poem “Ist Es Wahr?” (“Is it True?”), written by his close friend Johann Gustav Droyson, with the first line, “ Is it true that you are always waiting for me in the arbored walk?” In the spring of 1827, after falling in love while on holiday, the eighteen-year old Mendelssohn decided to set the poem to music. The opening three-note phrase of the song, published as Op. 9, No. 1, became the germinal melodic cell of the Op. 13 quartet. This motto permeates the entire quartet, sometimes in direct quotation, more often by recalling its rhythms or intervals. But even more incredible than the work’s bold conception and brilliant execution are its passion and poignancy, which may well surpass in sincerity the feelings expressed in many of his later works.
The quartet starts with a slow introduction. After two mood-setting phrases, Mendelssohn presents the all-important three-note motto “Ist es wahr?” —long/short-long—a question he endows with great yearning and pain. The Allegro vivace then starts with busy sixteen-note filigree until the viola starts the principal theme, based on the motto rhythm, which is expanded before the cello, playing high in its range, launches into the intense, impassioned second theme. The development, which starts exactly like the fast section, is highly contrapuntal, dissonant, and continually surging with musical electricity. The recapitulation is quite free, and the coda continues and builds on the already high energy level to reach a climactic ending.
The extremely emotional Adagio non lento starts with what might be termed a very loose paraphrase of the rhythm and feeling of the original song. A dark, somber fugato follows, its melody introduced by the viola and then imitated by the other instruments. The mood lightens as the tempo picks up slightly, and the first violin plays a distinctive rhythmic figure over a pulsing accompaniment. The fugato theme and its inversion are heard in this section before a brief violin cadenza acts as a transition back to a free, shorthand reprise of the slower first part.
The guileless Intermezzo offers a welcome change from the Adagio’s emotionally and intellectually charged atmosphere. The first violin sings the folklike theme, while the others supply a simple pizzicato accompaniment, with only the merest touches of countermelody. The much faster, whispered middle section recalls the fleeting, delicate scherzos from Mendelssohn’s Octet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After a repeat of the opening section, he combines the two musical ideas for the evanescent coda.
Mendelssohn starts the Presto with a dramatic opening reminiscent of the recitative from the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Op. 132. Everyone plays tremolo except the first violin, who plays an agitated ad libitum recitative based on the fugato theme of the second movement. Once past the recitative, Mendelssohn puts forth a multitude of motifs, many of which bear a kinship of some sort with material from previous movements, and particularly the “Ist es wahr?” motto. At the very end of this vigorous movement, Mendelssohn brings back the introduction to the entire quartet. But this time, he allows it to continue with a melody that comes closest to the actual “Ist es wahr?” song setting—thus integrating the entire quartet and bringing the music full circle.
Completed on October 26, 1827, the Op. 13 quartet was actually written before the quartet in E-flat, Op. 12, but published later. Although there is general agreement that Op. 13 is in the key of a minor, one frequently sees it listed as A Major, probably because the first movement introduction is in that key.
Notes from: Guide to Chamber Music by Melvin Berger, (© 1985)
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SIMIN GANATRA, violin
AUSTIN HARTMAN, violin
GUY BEN-ZIONY, viola
BRANDON VAMOS, cello
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Program 
Program Notes