String Quartet in F sharp minor

Hello,

I finished composing my first string quartet a couple of days ago, after working on it for several months (not constantly, there were sometimes gaps of up to three weeks inbetween). I tried combining a lot of different styles, new and old, into one piece that still has some kind of unity in it (this is a problem I tried to solve by themes that come back in the entire piece). I added no dynamics to the score, they're up to the preformers.

The main key is F sharp minor, but the piece has an original structure, sometimes not even based on keys. The piece lasts about 8 minutes and is made out of a single movement, devided into several sections.

The structure of the piece:

The piece starts off with an atonal Lento section, which is in a 13/8 time signature to get rid of most sense of any tempo, and has some rather tense moments in it despite it's slow pace. Several themes are introduced here. Some which are only to be found in the atonal sections, and one which is found all throughout the piece (I will call this Theme I). After a minute or so, the atonal section develops into tonality and has a very clear cadence (which is in the key of F sharp minor).

After a brief silence Violin I introduces Theme II (Tempo: Moderato, time signature: 3/4) in a fugato section. The theme (or here: subject, rather) enters all the other voices but all voices start off in different keys (and sometimes even stay in that key). Then the fugato smoothly goes into a section with an aim that's more harmonical, and a cadence (with a slightly modified Theme I in the lowest cello part) concludes it in C sharp minor.

The piece continues in a kind of choral way for half a minute or so and suddenly turns into a rhytmically complex part which contains modifications of both Theme I and Theme II woven into eachother in a very dissonant way, and goes back to the a choral part. Then the same thing happens again, rhytmically even more loose and very chromatic, going into the key of F minor.

This is where Theme III is born in the Viola part. This theme, sometimes with a few things changed, gets repeated, but the rhytms of the other instruments around it get messier and messier (Both Theme I and Theme II return in the other instruments here) and eventually turns into a "harmonic mess" as noted on the score. Then the piece accelerates (Theme I being played in two voices at the end) and ends in abrupt silence which lasts for some time.

Another, slower atonal section (Largo) (Time signature: Alla breve) now starts, and contains most of the atonal themes introduced in the first atonal section. Theme I appears as a kind of canon (not really, I know) throughout all 4 of the instruments in this section. This atonal section goes right into another atonal section, but this is a lot more dissonant and harmonically frozen, and is supposed to sound like it's played in two different metres (as noted on the score). The midi doesn't bring this out very well, my excuses for that.

Now the piece has gone into B minor suddenly, into a minimalistic section. Slowly, a theme develops which I will call the Development theme, since it's based on Theme II, and eventually turns into that.

After the minimalistic section, which is the longest section in the piece, the piece goes into the climax (in F sharp minor). This section has a moderate tempo, and has a very harmonical aim and is very much based on Romanticism. Theme II is used here and extended to enlarge the effect of the climax. The climax ends in a similar choral kind of part as the fugato section, but is now in F sharp minor. The same rhytmical complex part that was the first one in the earlier choral section ends the piece.

I don't know if it worked well to combine all the things I was planning to combine. Well, I'd love to hear what you people think of my work. Thanks!

Have a nice day,

- A.J. van Weert

P.S. The midi file and the score still contain some errors I have to fix sometime.

SQFinished.mid

StringQuartet.pdf

An interesting mix of styles! I've always thought universalism is the best way to acquire one's own unique voice in music.

My favorite parts were when you struck a nice middle ground between the tonal and the atonal. I also liked the minimalist section, the syncopated melodies are wonderful.

An interesting mix of styles! I've always thought universalism is the best way to acquire one's own unique voice in music.

My favorite parts were when you struck a nice middle ground between the tonal and the atonal. I also liked the minimalist section, the syncopated melodies are wonderful.

Thanks a lot!

ohreally, do you actually play any of these instruments?

Originally posted by J. Lee Graham@Aug 14 2005, 11:38 PM

ohreally, do you actually play any of these instruments?

Nope. Guess you noticed some impossible things here and there?

Nope. Guess you noticed some impossible things here and there?

Yes, I'm afraid. Especially in the cello part. Just one example: the cello part you have written on Page 3 is almost literally impossible. A truly virtuosic cellist might give it a stab, but unless you really know what the cello (and cellists) are capable of, broken chords like this not involving an open string that span much more than an octave are not a good idea for the cello. Every note in these broken chords must be separately fingered on a different string, and the player will be jumping all over the fingerboard trying to get even half of them. Can you rewrite these broken chords so that all the notes in each four-note pattern are within one octave? That would be more playable. There are patterns that span more than an octave that are playable, but it's too difficult for me to describe here precisely how they work. Basically, they're voiced so that even if they span three or more strings, the player's fingers are all in the same or a closely adjacent position - and that means the composer needs to know something about how the intrument is played. A good orchestration book should be able to help you with that.

In general, keyboard-like patterns don't work well with strings.

Measure 66 is another instance where this kind of ambitious interplay between two individual players is impractical. Were it slower, it would work better - but at this speed in 32nd notes it will be a mess. I guarantee it. Human reaction time is not as fast as you might think, and a lot of physical and mental coordination is required for this kind of thing even for one person. Add to this the individuality factor, and you have a recipe for catastrophe - or two very frustrated violinists. Just write the run for the first violin alone.

I'll second an earlier opinion that the many different styles put together here are interesting. The minimalist section worked the best, IMHO - though again, the repeated figures in the cello will be taxing on the performer at the very least. Nice work, though.

Seriously, get a really good orchestration book, with charts that show you what kind of double, triple and quadruple stops stringed instruments are capable of, and what kind of patterns work. Good luck.

Can anybody recommend such a book? I've heard here and elsewhere that Walter Piston's book is good.

Hey, you pointed out exactly these parts I didn't feel comfortable about. You're right, I do need an orchestration book. Thanks a lot for your comment, it was very useful!

I would like to say that I thought the opening to this piece (though the Cello line is a bit much) was my favourite bit to this piece. I love the atonal melody you have constructed and the way it develops inexorably to a rather unsatisfying resolution. I think what disappoints me most is that you don't bring it back to hear it given that sense of completeness it yearns for.

That said, the minimalist section was quite nice too. I think your block chord section seemed a bit abrupt and not in keeping with the rest of the piece. Some folks have commended you for including so many style sin so short a time span. I think that if you are going to do this, you need to give them a bit more room to breathe. I recommend you listen to Ronald Stevenson's second Piano Concerto 'The Continents' if you can find it. He effectively blends many different styles together in a single movement work.

You've got a great start here, I think.