String Quartet No. 3 by Walter Piston is a

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

work composed in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

History

Piston's third

string quartet The term string quartet can refer 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 violinists ...

was commissioned by Harvard University and first performed by the

Walden String Quartet The Walden String Quartet was a chamber music ensemble formed in 1934 by members of the Cleveland Orchestra. It was originally the idea of violinist Homer Schmitt and cellist Robert Swenson, who met in 1927. They recruited violinist Bernard Goodman ...

on May 1, 1947. It is dedicated to

Diran Alexanian Diran Alexanian ( hy, Տիրան Ալեքսանեան) (April 12, 1881, Constantinople – 1954, Chamonix, France) was an Armenian cello teacher and one of the world's greatest virtuoso cellists. Early life He started his studies in music ...

Analysis

The quartet is in three movements: #Allegro #Lento #Allegro Both of the outer movements are in sonata-allegro form, and are in F minor. The central Lento movement is a calm

theme and variations In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. Variation techniques Mozart's Twelve ...

in C minor. However, the first movement actually begins in

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

/minor, only gradually settling into F minor at the end, and the variation movement spends a lot of its time in the

parallel major In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "When ...

(the dominant of F minor). However, Piston's characteristic flexibility of tonality and thickly

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

harmony makes it simplest to omit key signatures.

Discography

* 1984. ''Walter Piston: String Quartet No. 3; String Quartet No. 4''. Portland String Quartet. Sounds of New England LP recording. Northeastern Records NR 214. Boston, Massachusetts: Northeastern Records. Third Quartet reissued on ''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. * 2010. ''Walter Piston: String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 and 5''. Harlem Quartet. CD Recording. Naxos 8.559630

ong Kong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...

Naxos Records.

References

Sources * * {{Authority control String Quartet No. 3 1947 compositions Music dedicated to ensembles or performers