String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 37, is a composition for
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 ...
by
Karol Szymanowski
Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 3 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernism (music), modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Szymanowski's early w ...
. It was the first of the two string quartets composed by Szymanowski. The work is from 1917 during his middle period. It is notable for its "
polytonal
Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...
" third movement, which contains four
key signature
In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the cl ...
s in its written four parts: the first violin with 3 sharps, the second violin with 6 sharps, the viola with 3 flats, and the cello with no flats or sharps.
[Iwanicka-Nijakowska, Anna (September 2007).(30 April 2014)]
String Quartet No. 1 in C major Op. 37 - Karol Szymanowski
Adam Mickiewicz Institute (culture.pl). Retrieved 12 March 2015.
Dedicated to the French musicologist
Henry Prunières, the work won the first prize in the Polish Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment's chamber music competition. Its first public performance was in Warsaw on 7 March 1924 played by the
Warsaw Philharmonic
The Warsaw Philharmonic (full Polish name: ''Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie'', "National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw"), as it is legally set up, is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, its home is the Warsaw ...
Quartet.
Szymanowski planned on including a fourth movement, a fugal finale, but the idea ultimately got scrapped. A performance usually lasts 17-18 minutes.
Recordings
String quartets who have recorded the piece include:
*Warsaw String Quartet. Da Camera Magna (coissue? with Pavane) (1982) ()
*Wilanow String Quartet. (1982)
eriton (1979); Polskie Nagrania Edition (1994)*Varsovia Quartet. (1982 Vinyl, Pavane Records – ADW 7118) Olympia (1989)
*Carmina Quartet. (Denon
CD, 1992)
*
Goldner String Quartet. Naxos (2000)
Meccore String Quartet Polskie Nagrania/Warner Music Poland (2015)
See also
*
List of polytonal pieces
References
Citations
Sources
*Stowell, Robin (2003).
''The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet'' Cambridge University Press
*Thomas, Adrian (2005). ''Polish Music since Szymanowski''. Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
*
External links
*
Compositions by Karol Szymanowski
1917 compositions
Szymanowski, Karol
Compositions in C major
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