Our 2009/2010 Season

In December 1893 in Paris, Debussy’s only string quartet, thought to be his most classical work, was introduced in concert by the famed Ysaye Quartet. Listeners heard techniques already found in works like César Franck’s, yet also heard a quartet of almost symphonic proportions, and full of Debussy’s exquisite writing for strings.

In the first movement, a primary theme comes and repeats, but the harmonies beneath it are always changing. Another theme appears, rhythmically smoother, followed by variations based mostly on that second theme. A recapitulation brings yet more variations, before a brief coda reminds us of both themes, and closes the movement. The next movement is a scherzo constructed like a song, and full of gypsy sounds, with overtones of the Javanese gamelan. The viola suddenly introduces the first movement’s initial theme in a striking fashion with an accompaniment in pizzicato, yet now drastically altered. As the first violin then takes up the theme, the second violin and the viola play a contrasting accompaniment, as intensity mounts and climaxes in pizzicato chords. In the slow song-form third movement, the muted viola and cello play a melody evocative of Borodin, followed by a two-part invention, and then by another melody sung by the first violin. The first theme then returns and builds to a strong climax. Echoes of Grieg’s G minor quartet can be heard in the final movement, a cyclic structure in which the scherzo returns as a fugue, and the first movement’s main theme comes back in an inverted form, unusually so for Debussy. At the end, we hear the theme again, but this time on the first violin, and as the work nears its climax, a coda then restates it for the last time.

Ernest Chausson studied law at his father's behest, and practiced as a lawyer, before he realized his calling was to be a composer. He put his legal career behind him, and embraced music, to become a full-fledged member of the musical community in Paris. Chausson composed a small but high quality body of music before an untimely death at age 44. String Quartet Op. 35, one of his last works, had its unfinished final bars completed by Vincent d'Indy. This lyrical work is tightly written, with close harmonies, and intricate part-leading.

Though the opening Grave begins with a melancholic theme, it then develops into a movement of serenity and lyricism, with elaborate solos for each voice of the quartet, and some lovely use of pizzicato figures. The second movement, Très calme, is the central focus of the quartet. It consists of a single extended theme, which is varied subtly as the four voices sing together and in counterpoint. In its peaceful and elevated character, this movement could well be the romantic successor of a slow movement from a Haydn quartet. The finale, marked Gaiement et pas trop vite, has some of the spirit of serenity and restrained lyricism of the two earlier movements. The concluding moments of the work are much more rapid in tempo and quite sharp rhythmically, a likely hint at the intervention by Vincent d'Indy’s hand in the writing of the final measures.