The Cello in the Foreground
With the String Quartet in D major, KV 575, Mozart wrote in June 1789 the first in a series of three so-called Prussian quartets. The occasion was a visit to the court of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia in Berlin earlier that spring. The prince was an ardent amateur cellist and Mozart conceived the plan to write a series of six quartets for him in which the cello would play a prominent role. Ultimately he completed only three (KV 575, 589 and 590), before his death in 1791. In the quartet we hear the cello regularly in a singing, almost solo role. In the first movement, the cello introduces the second theme. In the lyrical second movement we hear the cello as a counterpart, as a 'conversation partner', to the first violin. In the middle of the third movement, with the Trio, the cello makes itself heard with a warm singing melody. Finally, the cello opens the lively fourth movement with the rondo theme, after which Mozart lets the theme circulate through all the voices. This quartet does not display grand virtuosic gestures; here it is about nuance and mutual understanding between the players.
Document of Personal Loss
Shostakovich's wife, Nina Vazar, died suddenly in 1954. Six years later, Dmitri wrote his 7th string quartet in her memory. The quartet presents itself as an intimate meditation on loss, remembrance, and a time that meanwhile simply continues. While there are three movements, they are played without interruption. The first movement (Allegretto) does not open with a heavy sigh but with a deceptive, dry rhythm; a restless rhythm that ticks like a clock, with a motif that runs through all three movements. The middle movement (Lento) sounds quite different, sparse and subtle, like a dreamy reflection. The voices move slowly and soberly, time seems to stand still. With the dark accompaniment of the viola and cello, the first violin plays a high sparse melody, intimate and vulnerable.
Then suddenly the third movement breaks loose with restless, capricious music; we might hear it as a storm, as an outburst of rage. Gradually it seems to become calmer, but the music ends nonetheless in a somewhat tense, unresolved silence. All in all, a quartet that sounds like a personal elegy, brief and concentrated.
The Fossegrim
A Norwegian legend tells of the fossegrim: a water spirit that can teach someone to play the violin exceptionally beautifully. But that comes at a price. The player ultimately loses his beloved and personal happiness. Henrik Ibsen wrote a poem about this, Grieg wrote in 1876 a song to this poem: Spillemænd, subsequently the composer based the main theme in his string quartet on this song. The first movement begins with it, but motifs from this song can also be heard in the middle movements. And in the fourth movement the theme also returns clearly, inspired by the Norwegian folk dance, the springar. Grieg incorporates rhythmic energy that evokes Norwegian folk music, without simply quoting folk melodies. A quote from the poem: "I called the spirit from the deep water, and taught the string to strike so powerfully that the waves fell silent, and later, the rocks began to dance." Such a phrase can be heard in the restlessness and drama of the quartet. Lyrical passages are repeatedly interrupted by intense outbursts. Grieg's harmonies are rich and sometimes unexpected, with sharp contrasts between darkness and light. Grieg was fascinated by the dark, mystical atmosphere of the poem; perhaps with this work he wished to create a musical expression of 'the price of artistry'.
