Classical Music | Music for Quartet

Recorded on 10/07/2015, uploaded on 06/02/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

In 1892, Claude Debussy found himself hopelessly struggling to complete his planned opera Rodrigue et Chimène, forcing himself to work with a libretto he knew was wholly incompatible with his concept of both music and drama. Ultimately, he abandoned the project and in the aftermath turned to the composition of chamber music. Two string quartets were planned, yet only one materialized—the String Quartet in G minor. Completed in 1893, it is considered a landmark in the history of chamber music, much in the same way Prélude à l'après-midi d'un fauneis in orchestral music. While its fame and importance is certainly solidified today, it was less than enthusiastically received at its premiere by the Ysaÿe Quartet on December 29, 1893.

Drawing on the principles of cyclic form which was used frequently by César Franck, Debussy’s String Quartet manages to stand upon the threshold between the waning Romantic tradition that had predominated Western music, while also looking forward to the techniques of the opening decades of the 20^th century. Harmony and melody likewise give way to Debussy’s burgeoning Impressionism, and despite the work’s keen motivic unity, rhythm and timbre often become the focus of the composer’s and thereby audience’s attention.

Cast in the traditional four-movement pattern, the String Quartet in G minor opens with an animated first movement whose initial theme becomes the principal motivic material for the entire piece. In the following scherzo, timbre is a critical element of the music as pizzicato and bowed playing are placed in close juxtaposition and even heard simultaneously, not in the typical context of melody and accompaniment, but as equally important aspects. The Andante third movement is a refreshing repose from the energetic movements that precede it and a breathtakingly beautiful gem in its own right. Lushly harmonized and lyrical outer sections frame a passionately introspective central episode that slowly builds in intensity as the melody is passed between the constituents of the quartet. The sprightly finale, according to Debussy himself, caused him the most grief in its composition. It opens with a slow introduction, serving as an effective bridge from the expressive third movement, before the movement’s chromatically-infused principal theme is heard first in the cello. Debussy creates a compelling conclusion to his quartet as the finale’s forward momentum refuses to be hindered, even in its softer moments, and ultimately culminating in a spirited G major coda.       Joseph DuBose

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String Quartet in G minor, Op.10             Claude Debussy

Debussy completed this work in 1893, when he was most involved with Symbolism. In his quartet, Debussy displays his mastery of the cyclic form, a device that he learned from César Franck. In other words, Debussy derives the principal material for the whole work from the first theme of the first movement. In the Scherzo second movement, for instance, it appears in 6/8 in the viola; at the beginning of the Andantino it appears in reverse in the first violin. The finale takes its few notes as the basis for contrapuntal development, and the movement reaches its climax with the return of the theme in its original guise.

Besides the cyclic nature of the piece, Debussy also uses an abstract musical language, one of ancient modes, textural mosaics, rhythmic sophistication and luminous sonority which nonetheless reflect many of the ideals of Symbolist writing and ‘impressionist’ art.              Notes by Gordon Kerry

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.