Notes for: July 23, 2013
Verdi, of course, is known as the master of the Italian 19th century opera. His 26 operas include such masterworks as Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, La Forza del Destino, Aida, Otello and Falstaff.
In his relatively few ventures outside the opera house, he was often equally masterful. His religion-based masterpieces include the Requiem, Stabat Mater, and Te Deum, performed both in concert halls and churches, and this, his lone string quartet, is one of the staples of the 19th century chamber-music repertory.
Verdi wrote the string quartet as a time-filler in his busy opera schedule. In November, 1872, he arrived in Naples for an extended visit to supervise the production of some of his operas, including the local premiere of Aida in the spring. Soprano Teresa Stolz, cast in the title role, fell ill, and the performance had to be postponed. With three weeks of idle time on his hands, Verdi composed this string quartet, his only exclusively instrumental composition.
Verdi was well acquainted with the quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He is reported to have kept their scores by his bedside, and to advise his students to use the classical string quartets as models of clear organization. With time to fill, he was able to produce a string quartet of authority and appeal.
Verdi’s string quartet was premiered on April 1, two days after the opening of Aida, at an informal concert in the lobby of his hotel using local musicians. Verdi later recalled:
I’ve written a Quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my residence without attaching the least importance to it and without inviting anyone in particular. Only the seven or eight persons who usually come to visit me were present. I don’t know whether the Quartet is beautiful or ugly, but I do know that it’s a Quartet!
In fact, Verdi initially thought so little of the quartet that he did not submit it to his publishers for three years. Even today the quartet is overlooked in reference books on chamber music. However, musicians now realize how effectively the quartet demonstrates Verdi’s skills in idiomatic string writing.
The fact is that the quartet is a new kind of Verdi. There is little in the great operas to prepare the listener for the quartet. Instead of the huge musical structures of the operas, expressive and often eloquent, we hear the repetition and manipulation of reduced thematic and rhythmic cells, reminding us of Beethoven’s late quartets.
In the quartet’s first movement, allegro, the key cell of ten notes is stated by the second violin in the opening two and one-fourth measures. The cell is then expanded into the dramatic first theme, derived from one of the main motives of Aida and conveying, in Melvin Berger’s language, “a sense of quiet, suppressed urgency.” The cell and its continuation are picked up by the first violin, and the cell, both on its own and expanded, is repeated in the rest of the movement.
A second germinating motive appears in the cello which blends with the main theme and then undergoes several variations until becoming the background to a new passage, pianissimo, in the upper strings. After a descending scale in the second violin and viola, the true second theme, in a contrasting key and contemplative mood, is stated, dolce and song-like, by the strings as a group. A third theme, in humorous broken notes, winds up the exposition. The development recalls the opening theme and then blends all of this varied thematic material, suggesting the opera Falstaff to come in 20 years.
The second movement, andantino, is marked by Verdi “with elegance” and “greatest sweetness”.The main theme is based on a four-measure pattern in the rhythm of a Polish mazurka – that is, in dotted rhythms with an accent on the second beat. The theme is repeated twice with intervening episodes.
The third movement, prestissimo, is the quartet’s scherzo raised to a hectic pace. The generating material is a four-measure cell in which the first beat is stressed by a grace note and trill. A second cell is introduced – pianissimo and “leggiero molto staccato.” The contrasting trio is a tenor aria sung by the cello, then the violin, accompanied by the other strings playing pizzicato in imitation of a guitar.
As indicated by the title, Scherzo Fuga, the fourth movement combines elements of both forms. As a “scherzo”, the movement follows the original meaning of the Italian term as a joke or jest, presenting music of unstable tonality full of surprises and unexpected turns of phrase. As a “fuga”, it is a venture into melodic imitation in which the tunes are tossed from instrument to instrument in counterpoint. The result is high-spirited music, again recalling Beethoven and anticipating the opera Falstaff.