String Quartet No. 2 (Britten)

String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36, by English composer Benjamin Britten, was written in 1945. It was composed in Snape, Suffolk and London, and completed on 14 October. The first performance was by the Zorian Quartet in the Wigmore Hall, London on 21 November 1945, in a concert to mark the exact 250th anniversary of the death of English composer Henry Purcell (1659–95). The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Mary ("Mrs J. L.") Behrend, a patron of the arts; Britten donated most of his fee towards famine relief in India.

String Quartet
No. 2
by Benjamin Britten
Britten in the mid-1960s
Opus36
Composed1945 (1945)
DedicationMrs J. L. Behrend
Premiere
Date21 November 1945 (1945-11-21)
LocationWigmore Hall, London
PerformersZorian Quartet

The Zorian Quartet made the first recording of the work, in October 1946. It occupies seven sides of a four-disc 78rpm album. On the eighth side is Purcell's Fantasia upon One Note Z.745, with Britten playing the sustained middle C drone on second viola; the only recording on which he played viola, his favourite string instrument.[1][2][3]

Broadcaster and classical music critic John Amis (1922–2013), husband of Olive Zorian 1948–55, recalled of the first rehearsals:

Ben[jamin Britten] and me had to sit on the floor in me and my wife’s flat following the score of his second string quartet in rehearsals because me and my wife only had four chairs and the quartet had to use them.[4]

Structure

The quartet is in three movements:

  1. "Allegro calmo, senza rigore"
  2. "Vivace"
  3. "Chacony: sostenuto"

The first movement is in a kind of sonata form, unusual in that the first and second subjects (themes) give rise to a third subject, all involving the interval of a tenth.

The second movement has been described as "night music", but is very different in character to that of the night music of Béla Bartók. All four instruments play with mutes.

The third movement is longer than the other two movements combined. Its title "Chacony" refers back to Purcell, who used that name for the musical form more often called chaconne or passacaglia. It consists of a theme (a nine-bar unit) and 21 variations, divided into four sections by solo cadenzas for the cello, viola and first violin. In a programme note for the premiere, Britten wrote: "The sections may be said to review the theme from (a) harmonic, (b) rhythmic, (c) melodic, and (d) formal aspects".[2][5][6]

A typical performance takes about 28–32 minutes.[5][7]

Recordings

References
  1. Carpenter, Humphrey (1992). Benjamin Britten: A Biography. Faber and Faber. pp. 228–232, 400. ISBN 0-571-14324-5.
  2. Keller, James M. (10 December 2010). Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide. Oxford University Press. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-0195382532. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. Hogwood, Brian (12 October 2013). "Listening to Britten – String Quartet no.2 in C major, Op.36". Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. Jacob, Jon (23 April 2013). "John Amis talks about Benjamin Britten at Orpington Recorded Music Society". Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  5. Evans, Peter (1979). The Music of Benjamin Britten. London, Melbourne and Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. pp. 294–300. ISBN 0-460-04350-1.
  6. Parker, Roger (23 May 2013). "Britten and the String Quartet: A Classical Impulse–String Quartet No.2". Gresham College. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  7. Stevenson, Joseph. Benjamin Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 at AllMusic. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. "Search Results for Zorian String Quartet". Arts and Humanities Research Council. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. Benjamin Britten, P. Racine Fricker*, Amadeus-Quartett – String Quartets - Benjamin Britten / P. Racine Fricker at Discogs
  10. Britten, Fidelio Quartet – String Quartets at Discogs
  11. Benjamin Britten – Vítĕzslav Hanus, Janáček Quartet – Metamorphoses / Fantasy For Oboe / String Quartet at Discogs
  12. Britten, Allegri String Quartet – String Quartets at Discogs (list of releases)
  13. Britten, Amadeus String Quartet – String Quartets 2 & 3 at Discogs
  14. Britten, Amadeus Quartet – String Quartets 2 & 3, Sinfonietta at Discogs
  15. Benjamin Britten: The Alberni String Quartet – String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 at Discogs (list of releases)
  16. Benjamin Britten – Endellion String Quartet – Complete Music For String Quartet (String Quartets Nos.1-3 · String Quartet In D · Rhapsody · Phantasy For String Quartet · Phantasy For Oboe And String Trio · Quartettino · Elegy For Solo Viola · Three Divertimenti · Alla Marcia) at Discogs (list of releases)
  17. Britten: The String Quartets No.2 & No.3 at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  18. Wihan Quartet  – Ravel – Britten at Discogs
  19. Britten – Maggini String Quartet – String Quartets Vol. 1 at Discogs
  20. Britten – Sorrel Quartet – String Quartets – N° 2 In C Major, In F Major (Premiere Recording), In D Major at Discogs
  21. Britten, Brodsky Quartet – Britten String Quartets 2 & 3 at Discogs
  22. Britten – Belcea Quartet – String Quartets 1, 2 & 3; 3 Divertimenti at Discogs
  23. Britten, Takács Quartet – String Quartets 1, 2 & 3 at Discogs
  24. Britten, Emerson String Quartet – Music Of Britten And Purcell: Chaconnes And Fantasias at Discogs
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