The Piano Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 16, is a chamber music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1909 and first performed in Paris the same year.
Enescu composed his First Piano Quartet in 1909: the first movement in Sinaia, the remaining two movements in Paris. The work was completed on 10 December, just over a week prior to the concert in which it was premiered, in the series Soirées d'Art on 18 December 1909—a programme that also included the premiere of the already ten-year-old Octet for Strings. The score is dedicated to Mme Ephrussi, the wife of the Parisian banker Michel Ephrussi.[1][2][3]
There were only two further performances of the Quartet in the composer's lifetime: on 18 May 1910, and again in 1933, both times with the composer at the piano. It seems likely that Enescu had doubts about the work and might have wished to revise the score. This never happened, however, and the Quartet remained unpublished until 1965, a decade after the composer's death.[4][5]
Analysisedit
The quartet is in three movements:
Allegro moderato
Andante mesto
Vivace
The opening movement, a sonata-allegro in D major, starts with the principal theme presented in the unison—a device of which Enescu was fond. This theme resembles the first theme of Enescu's Wind Decet, composed three years earlier, but its development occasionally looks forward to the heterophony characteristic of Enescu's later style.[6]
The central Andante movement is a song form in the key of A-flat minor, a tritone away from the home key of the outer movements—a relationship that Enescu will explore again in the Second Symphony.[7] The main theme is particularly expressive, with modal coloring, and is presented at the outset of the movement in the cello.[2] The second theme group is largely derived from the first theme, but displays a scalewise melodic cell alternating semitones and whole tones, which will emerge as a full descending octatonic scale five bars after rehearsal 39. In the coda, the piano unexpectedly introduces the secondary theme of the first movement, which is the only cyclic feature found in this work.[8]
The finale is, like the opening movement, in sonata-allegro form, but opens unexpectedly in D minor rather than major.[9] It possesses a relentless rhythmic pulsation which, together with a vigorous cheerfulness, serves well the traditional function of a finale, but also that of a scherzo, a movement this work lacks.[10]
Firca, Clemansa Liliana. 1965. Liner notes to the LP recording of the Quartet by Maria Fotino (piano), Daniel Podlovski (violin}, Alexandru Rădulescu (viola), and Ion Fotino (violoncello). 1 disc: 33⅓ rpm, stereo. Electrecord ECE 0271. Bucharest: Electrecord.
Hoffman, Alfred, and Adrian Rațiu. 1971. "Muzician Internațional (1907–1913)". In George Enescu: Monografie, 2 vols., edited by Mircea Voicana, 331–404. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
piano, quartet, enescu, piano, quartet, major, chamber, music, composition, romanian, composer, george, enescu, written, 1909, first, performed, paris, same, year, piano, quartet, 1chamber, music, george, enescuenescu, 1910skeyd, majoropus16composed1909, 1909,. The Piano Quartet No 1 in D major Op 16 is a chamber music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu written in 1909 and first performed in Paris the same year Piano Quartet No 1Chamber music by George EnescuEnescu in the 1910sKeyD majorOpus16Composed1909 1909 DedicationMme EphrussiPerformed18 December 1909 1909 12 18 ParisPublished1965 1965 Movements3Scoringpianoviolinviolacello Contents 1 History 2 Analysis 3 References 3 1 Cited sources 4 External linksHistory editEnescu composed his First Piano Quartet in 1909 the first movement in Sinaia the remaining two movements in Paris The work was completed on 10 December just over a week prior to the concert in which it was premiered in the series Soirees d Art on 18 December 1909 a programme that also included the premiere of the already ten year old Octet for Strings The score is dedicated to Mme Ephrussi the wife of the Parisian banker Michel Ephrussi 1 2 3 There were only two further performances of the Quartet in the composer s lifetime on 18 May 1910 and again in 1933 both times with the composer at the piano It seems likely that Enescu had doubts about the work and might have wished to revise the score This never happened however and the Quartet remained unpublished until 1965 a decade after the composer s death 4 5 Analysis editThe quartet is in three movements Allegro moderato Andante mesto Vivace The opening movement a sonata allegro in D major starts with the principal theme presented in the unison a device of which Enescu was fond This theme resembles the first theme of Enescu s Wind Decet composed three years earlier but its development occasionally looks forward to the heterophony characteristic of Enescu s later style 6 The central Andante movement is a song form in the key of A flat minor a tritone away from the home key of the outer movements a relationship that Enescu will explore again in the Second Symphony 7 The main theme is particularly expressive with modal coloring and is presented at the outset of the movement in the cello 2 The second theme group is largely derived from the first theme but displays a scalewise melodic cell alternating semitones and whole tones which will emerge as a full descending octatonic scale five bars after rehearsal 39 In the coda the piano unexpectedly introduces the secondary theme of the first movement which is the only cyclic feature found in this work 8 The finale is like the opening movement in sonata allegro form but opens unexpectedly in D minor rather than major 9 It possesses a relentless rhythmic pulsation which together with a vigorous cheerfulness serves well the traditional function of a finale but also that of a scherzo a movement this work lacks 10 References edit Bentoiu 2010 p 136 a b Hoffman and Rațiu 1971 pp 354 355 Malcolm 1990 p 273 Malcolm 1990 p 94 Bentoiu 2010 pp 136 137 Bentoiu 2010 pp 127 128 Bentoiu 2010 p 131 Bentoiu 2010 pp 132 133 Bentoiu 2010 p 133 Firca 1965 Cited sources edit Bentoiu Pascal 2010 Masterworks of George Enescu A Detailed Analysis translated by Lory Wallfisch Lanham MD Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0 8108 7665 1 cloth ISBN 978 0 8108 7690 3 ebook Firca Clemansa Liliana 1965 Liner notes to the LP recording of the Quartet by Maria Fotino piano Daniel Podlovski violin Alexandru Rădulescu viola and Ion Fotino violoncello 1 disc 33 rpm stereo Electrecord ECE 0271 Bucharest Electrecord Hoffman Alfred and Adrian Rațiu 1971 Muzician Internațional 1907 1913 In George Enescu Monografie 2 vols edited by Mircea Voicana 331 404 Bucharest Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste Romania Malcolm Noel 1990 George Enescu His Life and Music with a preface by Sir Yehudi Menuhin London Toccata Press ISBN 0 907689 32 9 External links editPiano Quartet No 1 Enescu Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Portal nbsp Classical Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Piano Quartet No 1 Enescu amp oldid 1211221281, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
