String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 44, No. 3 - Viola
Although given the number "3", the String Quartet in E-flat major was actually the second in order of composition, dating from The opening Allegro is a sonata wrought in a truly classical fashion. It is built from three different themes that are themselves essentially chains of one or more motifs: Particularly prominent is the five-note motif at the very beginning, stamping the exposition and saturating the development. In essence, the music is built up from motifs that give contour to large-scale gestures as well as contrasting motif tiled tightly together in repetitive sequences known as figuration.
Multiplied and distributed across the multi-part texture of the quartet in a myriad of juxtapositions, the motifs describe a rich musical design of living tissue as cells, strands, planes and large-scale features grow together into a complex entity. While, in the true fashion of the classical quartet, Mendelssohn gives independence and interest to each of the four parts, the first movement frequently finds a florid first violin standing apart in concertante style from the other three strings that band together in a cooperative counter-ensemble giving the movement a lush and occasional orchestral feel.
Past Concerts
The sonata includes a significant coda , a "tail" of additional musical development following the natural conclusion of the exposition. It begins with clear signal: The scherzo is perhaps the finest part of this quartet, utterly characteristic of Mendelssohn in the manner of many scherzi that grace his works of every genre.
As he would do later in a piano trio, Mendelssohn uses a form that is at once more complex as well as more subtle than a conventional scherzo and trio: Maintaining the same tempo, key and rhythmic drive, the two episodes are both little fugues signaled by the thinning of the texture to one voice that builds again into a complex web of layered repetitions.
The thematic complexity doubles and thus the musical tension when the second fugal episode interweaves a chromatic countersubject. With steady dynamics, monochromatic timbre, continuous motion and a keening balance of the utmost delicacy leggiero , the scherzo is a study in the dynamics of pure texture painted in fleeting strokes by a very fine set of brushes.
Mendelssohn rounds out his four-movement classical plan with a lyrical slow movement and a brisk finale. The Adagio is warm and heartfelt as any Mozart or Haydn slow movement, by turns gentle and tender, longing and mournful, resolving into luscious catharsis. It constantly features the rich singing of each quartet member in a skillful, luxuriant polyphony that deftly shifts the emphasis from voice to voice in a fluid musical dialog. The finale recalls the busy and constant motion of the scherzo, likewise occasionally veering into a darker minor tonality, though ultimately dedicated to sunny triumph, a buoyant finish of the most classical sort.
Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. A program of works of J. Quartet in D Major, Op. Langsamer Satz Johannes Brahms: Quartet in A Minor, Op. Adagio from the String Quartet Op.
Quartet in C Major, Op. Quartet in D Minor, Op.
Quartet in A Major, K Brahms: Sextet in G Major, Op. Trio in B-flat Major, D Schubert: Quintet in A Major, D.
Mendelssohn - String Quartets, Volume 1
Quartet in G Major, K Beethoven: Quartetto Serioso in F Minor, Op. Quartet in G Minor, Op. Quartet in A Major, Op. The Smithsonian Chamber Players: William Sharp, baritone; Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano. Quartet in F Major, Op. Octet in E-flat Major, Op. Quartet in E-flat Major, Op.
Past Events
Quintet in D Major , Fandango , g Quartet in F Minor, Op. Quartet in D Major, k, the Hoffmeister Smetana: Octet in C, Op. Smithsonian Chamber Music Society P. Sign up for emails. Sunday, December 16, at 7: Sonata in G Minor, Hob. The Smithsonian Chamber Players. Saturday, November 17, at 7: Sunday, November 18, at 7: Three times seven Lieder after Schumann and Schubert. Saturday, October 27, at 7: Sunday, October 28, at 7: Quartet in G Major, Op.
The Axelrod String Quartet.
Saturday, October 20, at 7: Sunday, October 21, at 7: Schwanengesang , D Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. Saturday, May 5, at 7: Joseph Haydn Early Keyboard Trios Saturday, April 28, at 7: Sunday, April 29, at 7: Saturday, April 14, at 7: Sunday, April 15, at 7: Saturday, March 17, at 7: Sunday, March 18, at 7: Sunday, February 25, at 6: Saturday, January 27, at 7: Sunday, January 28, at 7: Saturday, January 20, at 7: Franz Schubert Winterreise , D.
Saturday, January 13, at 7: Sunday, January 14, at 7: John Jenkins Consort Music for Viols. The Smithsonian Consort of Viols. Sunday, December 10, at 7: Saturday, November 11, at 7: Sunday, November 12, at 7: Sunday, October 22, at 7: Johannes Brahms Cello Sonata No. Saturday, October 7, at 7: Bartolozzi" Trio in C Major, Hob.
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 | Beethovenfest | DW |
Saturday, May 6, at 7: Sunday, May 7, at 7: Saturday, April 29, at 7: Sunday, April 30, at 7: Saturday, April 8, at 7: Sunday, April 9, at 7: Saturday, March 18, at 7: Sunday, March 19, at 7: Double Quartet in G Minor, Op. Saturday, February 25, at 7: Sunday, February 26, at 5: Saturday, January 14, at 7: Sunday, January 15, at 7: Saturday, January 7, at 7: Sunday, January 8, at 7: Saturday, November 19, at 7: Sunday, November 20, at 7: Saturday, October 8, at 7: Sunday, October 9, at 7: Saturday, April 23, at 7: Sunday, April 24, at 7: Sunday, April 3, at 7: Saturday, April 9, at 7: Saturday, March 19, at 7: Sunday, March 20, at 7: Piano Trios of Joseph Haydn.
Saturday, March 5, at 7: Sunday, March 6, at 7: