Friday 26th June 2026
Anton Webern Langsamer Satz
Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement) is a very early work by Anton Webern dating from 1905, just after he became a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna. It is believed to have been inspired by his future wife (and cousin) Wilhelmine Mortl, “a love song to the woman he would later marry” (Douglas Jarman). The emotional state of the composer and the resulting music are intense, with Webern writing in his diary “Our love rose to infinite heights and filled the universe! Two souls were enraptured!” There may have been an the intention of writing a complete quartet, but this is the only movement known.
The single, four section movement is romantic, lyrical, expressive and according to Carl Fischer, portrays yearning, dramatic turmoil and peaceful tranquillity. The style had yet to take on the direction taught by Schoenberg and the work was not made public by Webern, possibly because of the relationship to his cousin that inspired it, the fact that it did not follow his teacher’s direction or indeed, simply because it was a student work, and uncompleted as a quartet. Whichever it was, the single movement stands on its own while showing how he experimented with musical techniques for his future style and direction.
Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
I. Adagio – Allegro Vivace
II. Adagio non lento
III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto
IV. Presto – Adagio non lento
In a close parallel of Langsamer Satz, the A Minor string quartet is an early work by Mendelssohn dating from 1827 when he was 18. Also inspired by love, and at about the same time as he composed this quartet, Mendelssohn wrote “Is it true that you always wait for me there in the leafy path by the grape arbor and ask the moonlight and the little stars about me? Is it true? What I feel can only be understood by someone who feels it with me, and who will stay forever true to me.” for a song “Frage” (Question) catalogued as Op. 9 No. 1. The occasionally used subtitle of the quartet, “Ist es wahr?” (Is it true?) forges the link between the two before the music is even heard.
1827 was of course the year that Beethoven died, and Mendelssohn includes multiple and cleverly woven references to his late quartets. Perhaps most obvious here is the similarity between the subtitle “Ist es war?” to Beethoven’s famous “Muss es sein?” and the corresponding three-note phrases. As the Webern earlier, the A minor quartet is lyrical and passionate. The “Frage” love song is quoted in the outer movements bringing the work full circle as the middle two movements explore thematically related material between these statements. It is said that this work is one of the earliest examples of cyclicity in the chamber music repertoire.
Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet No. 7 in F♯ minor, Op. 108
I. Allegretto
II. Lento
III Allegro – Allegretto
Dedicated to the memory of his first wife Nina Vassilyevna Varzar, Shostakovich completed the F♯ minor quartet in 1960, 6 years after her sudden death. In those years, Shostakovich had remarried and divorced, and his first marriage was also turbulent, and so his shattered emotions are played out in the short, 13 minute quartet Op. 108.
The 3 movements (though the last is really in 2 parts making this almost 4 movements) are played without a break. This quartet shows an emotional intensity and sharply contrasting moods that is clearly inspired by the love of and grief for the loss of his wife. Shostakovich chose F♯ minor for the key of the quartet, a key that has been associated with feelings of pain a suffering as might be heard in Mahler’s 10th symphony for example. Despite the intensity, the works ends in a dignified and gently ephemeral waltz.
Anna Meredith Honeyed words
Written for cello and electronics, the 3 minute “Honeyed words” from 2023 takes unusual timbres from the cello and produces an intriguing, simple yet richly coloured and somehow addictive musical experience that fits into no single genre!
Zosia Herlihy O’Brien Seed
Zosia’s new composition: we can’t wait!
Claude Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
I. Animé et très décidé
II. Assez vif et bien rythmé
III. Andantino, doucement expressif
IV. Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion
The only string quartet by Debussy, the G minor quartet dates from 1893. Like the Mendelssohn, this has a cyclic structure and marks some radical alternatives to the “classical” style of the string quartet. So much so that later, Maurice Ravel was so taken with the freedom of form that he based the structure of his own quartet on this one. As Debussy said, “Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity.”
Earlier in this series, we have heard a performance of Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faune that dates from the following year. Both are examples of how uniquely Debussy challenged the status quo to produce beautiful music with brand new creative ideas and techniques.