String Quartet No. 1 by

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter ...

is a

chamber-music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

work composed in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

History

Piston's first

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

was premiered on March 7, 1933, by the Chardon Quartet, to whom it is dedicated. It is a charming work that later became a favorite of the

Juilliard Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman and Robert Mann. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. It ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

singled out this quartet, praising its "acidulous opening movement, the poetic mood painting of its second, and its breezy finale", all of which "sets a superb standard of taste and of expert string writing".

Analysis

The quartet is in three

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

: #Allegro () #Adagio () #Allegro vivace (, ) The first movement is in

sonata-allegro form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th centu ...

in a mixed

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...

. The harmonic language stresses chords based on

perfect fourth A fourth is a interval (music), musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending int ...

s, and features the

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

, dissonant

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

characteristic of Piston's early period. A nightmarish quality is produced by the approach to the

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

second, waltz-like theme through

. The second movement is a simple ''ABA'' in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Change ...

, with the strings muted in the brooding, chromatic outer sections, and an unmuted

fugato In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

in sharply

dotted rhythm In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a Musical note, note with a small dot written after it. In modern practice, the first dot increases the duration (music), duration of the original note by half of its note value, value. This makes a ...

s in the central part. This movement especially features the cello. The

rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

finale is based throughout on a repeated-note motive of three

sixteenth note Figure 1. A 16th note with stem facing up, a 16th note with stem facing down, and a 16th rest. Figure 2. Four 16th notes beamed together. In music, a 1/16, sixteenth note ( American) or semiquaver (British) is a note played for half the d ...

s, and the first subject recalls the quartet's opening movement by alternating C and D. The string writing here is expert and spectacular, with some disorienting harmonic twists.

Discography

* 1939. ''Walter Piston: String Quartet no. 1;

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.C ...

: Movements for String Quartet (1928)''. Dorian String Quartet. 78 RPM recording, 3 sound discs. Columbia Masterworks M 388 (set) Columbia Masterworks; 69745-D 69746-D; 69747-D. ridgeport, Connecticut Columbia Masterworks. *1954. ''

Gian Francesco Malipiero Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gi ...

: Rispetti e strambotti; Walter Piston: String Quartet'' o. 1 Juilliard String Quartet. Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival, 1952. LP recording.

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

CB 156—CB 157. New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. *1985. ''Walter Piston: String Quartet No. 1; String Quartet No. 2''. Portland String Quartet. LP recording. Northeastern Records NR 216. Boston, Massachusetts: Northeastern Records. Reissued as part of ''Walter Piston: String Quartet No. 1; String Quartet No. 2; String Quartet No. 3''. The Portland String Quartet (Stephen Kecskemethy and Ronald Lanz, violins; Julia Adams, viola; Paul Ross, cello). CD recording. Northeastern NR 9001 CD. Boston: Northeastern University, 1988. *1991. ''Walter Piston: Quartet No. 1.

Quincy Porter William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of european classical music, classical music. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included H ...

: Quartet No. 3;

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

: String Quartet in B Minor, op. 11''. The Chester String Quartet (Fritz Gearhart, Kathryn Votapek, violins; Ronald Goravic, viola; Thomas Rosenberg, cello). CD recording. Koch International Classics 3-7069-2 H1. estbury, New York Koch International Classics. * 2010. ''Walter Piston: String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 and 5''. Harlem Quartet. CD Recording. Naxos 8.559630 ong Kong Naxos Records.

References

Sources * * * {{Authority control String Quartet No. 1 1933 compositions Music dedicated to ensembles or performers