Czech Chamber Music Society • Emerson String Quartet

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12 is the work of a 20-year-old composer whose life was short, albeit filled with music since childhood. With other composers such work could easily be described as juvenilia, but with Mendelssohn it is a different story. His typical study piece for a string quartet was Twelve Fugues, which he composed at the age of 12 while studying with Carl Friedrich Zelter. Two of the best-known works from his early period, namely Octet for Strings in E flat major, Op. 20, and his overture to Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21, were composed when he was a young man of 16 and 17. To put it simply: Mendelssohn began composing early and matured quickly.

In addition to his great talent, he had the support of his wealthy, cultured parents, which enabled him to develop under the tutelage of several piano teachers and composers, the last one of whom was Ignaz Moscheles. At the University of Berlin Mendelssohn broadened his knowledge in aesthetics, philosophy of art, as well as natural sciences and history (1827–1829); traveled, established contacts, and performed as a conductor and pianist. His first string quartet, String Quartet in E flat major, dates from 1829. It was completed in London, during Mendelssohn’s trip to Britain and Scotland, and reflects the composer’s happy times. The quartet uses a cyclical form, linking movements with the same themes. The first movement opens with a slow introduction that some scholars believe is reminiscent of Beethoven’s String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 74, perhaps as a tribute to this composer, admired by Mendelssohn, who died in 1827. This is followed by the Allegro in sonata form. The second movement (Canzonetta) is refreshing in its simplicity and melody with two contrasting voices above (or below) the remaining voices, and witty in its use of pizzicato and staccato. The short slow movement (Andante espressivo) is often compared to a song. The final movement in a fast 12/8 tempo concludes with some of the content from the first movement, bringing the quartet together as a whole. Romantic, elegant, flawless, cantabile: such adjectives accompany Mendelssohn’s quartet, Op. 12.

Johannes Brahms, born in Hamburg just like Mendelssohn, wrote only three string quartets: two under opus number 51 and the third, String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67. His chamber works for piano are much more numerous. Brahms’s respect for the string quartet as a musical genre, as represented, for example, by Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn, reached such an extent that he allegedly destroyed twenty of his attempts at a string quartet before being satisfied with the three compositions mentioned above. Brahms prepared String Quartet No. 1 in C minor and String Quartet No. 2 in A minor in 1873 to be published as Op. 51. Two years later, during a summer stay in Ziegelhausen, he composed String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67. At that time, Brahms was approximately in the middle of his career. He became artistic director of the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde in Vienna (1872–1875) and moved permanently to Vienna. During the summer months he would travel to quieter places in order to devote himself fully to composing, such as Tutzing in Bavaria, Lake Zurich or Ziegelhausen near Heidelberg. He dedicated his third string quartet to his friend, Professor Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann, an amateur cellist from Utrecht, with a funny piece of advice: “There’s no cello solo in it, but such a tender viola solo that you may want to change your instrument for its sake!” Engelmann’s wife, Emma, née Brandes, was an accomplished pianist, so it is not surprising that the Engelmanns often hosted Brahms, Clara Schumann and other musical friends.

Simultaneously with the third string quartet, Brahms was working on his Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, which took him 14 years from the initial sketches until its completion in 1876. The optimistic quartet, “a useless trifle”, as he himself put it, offered Brahms some relief from facing the composition of a symphony. This brilliant piece begins with a witty fast movement alternating 6/8 and 2/4 time signatures. The second movement features the first violin playing an impressive heartfelt cantilena (with equally impressive “Baroque” entries). This is followed by the third movement, where the viola occupies an unusually important place, being conceived almost as a solo instrument. Everything is crowned by the final fourth movement with a set of variations. The quartet was first performed on 30 October 1876 in Berlin by the Joachim Quartet, and that from the autograph before the score was printed by the Berlin publisher Fritz Simrock.

In the imaginative comparison of Mendelssohn – Brahms – Dvořák, Dvořák clearly leads with his 14 string quartets and several other works for this ensemble. At the time when Brahms composed his third quartet, Dvořák submitted his first application for a state scholarship – and as is well known, he entered this competition repeatedly in the following years with the same success. Brahms sat on the jury evaluating the compositions and was highly impressed with Dvořák, who earned his respect and support, which later led to a deep and lasting friendship. String Quartet in A flat major, Op. 105 (B.193), from 1895, comes from Dvořák’s late period, after which he devoted himself only to programmatic music and operas. His 13th String Quartet in G major, Op. 106, and 14th String Quartet in A flat major, Op. 105, form a pair of works written essentially one over the other and completed only a short time apart in December 1895. Dvořák noted down a sketch for Opus 105 in New York at the end of his American sojourn, but eventually he retained only the exposition of the first movement and, beginning with the development, wrote new music. String Quartet in A flat major reflects the composer’s joy of over returning to Bohemia. As Dvořák confided in his letter to Alois Göbl, he and his entire family “feel inexpressibly happy” to be finally together at home.

The first movement opens with a short contrapuntal introduction in A flat minor (Adagio ma non troppo), but quickly switches to the cantabile main theme in the major key and a rhythmically expressive additional theme (Allegro appassionato). The second movement is conceived as a scherzo in three-part A-B-A form. The third movement exudes a happy mood which cannot be disrupted even by the more serious middle section in the minor key. The quartet, which capitalizes on Dvořák’s almost prodigal melodic invention as well as his spontaneous musicality and compositional mastery, ends with an exultant Allegro. Expectations placed on Dvořák’s new compositions were naturally high on the part of publisher Simrock, performers and listeners alike. Therefore, even before its publication in the summer of 1896, the String Quartet in A flat major was heard privately at the Music Club in Platýz (16 April 1896), and very soon it was also played by foreign ensembles, such as the Rosé-Quartett and the Dannreuthers Quartet. In the Czech Chamber Music Society, it was presented for the first time on 21 January 1897 by the Bohemian Quartet.