String Quartet in D, Opus 45
| Written: 1931-32 | Premiered: Brussels, December 9, 1932 Pro Arte Quartet |
| Length: 20 minutes | Four movements: Allegro Adagio Allegro vivo Allegro moderato |
| Publisher: Durand | Dedication: Henry Le Boeuf |
About this Work:|
Although Roussel wrote only one string quartet, he had great respect for the genre. He wrote, "Is not the string quartet the supreme test which reveals, honestly and artlessly, the merit of the musician, the quality of the music within him?" It isn't surprising, in the light of these sentiments, that he waited until his full maturity to write a quartet. The Quartet in D is his only piece of chamber music with four movements, and it is the longest chamber piece written in the last 20 years of his life.
The first movement is typically Rousselian in its vigorous peasant rhythms and A-B-A form. The adagio second movement starts as a lament, giving way to a beautiful polyphonic "conversation" in the lower strings that is much more peaceful and positive. The third movement has a lilting dance-like feel, with pungent rhythms spicing the steps. The finale is a fugue, one of several that Roussel wrote around this time (for example, opus 41, Prelude et fughetta, and opus 46, Prelude et fugue). |
How does it sound?| Roussel spent several years as a professor of counterpoint at Vincent d'Indy's Schola Cantorum. It is not surprising, then, that he wrote a number of fugues during his neo-classical period. Here is part of the fugue from the final movement (58K WAV file) of the quartet. |
Other opinions:|
This delicious divertissement (the Trio, opus 40) was followed by a work more austere and without a doubt greater, the unique String Quartet... his only major chamber work in four movements, but otherwise as concise as usual. [Harry Halbreich] The String Quartet belongs to the weightier tradition [of Roussel's chamber music]. Roussel referred to "this severe form, the quartet", and he ends the work with an extended and uncharacteristically academic fugue. [Basil Deane] The String Quartet is remarkable for its gay, pointed scherzo and for its finely developed fugue in the last movement. [Edward Lockspeiser] Joining his French colleagues, Faure, Debussy, and Ravel, in producing a single example in quartet form, he has stated in it his entire creative creed. The music would seem to be heavy and thick, almost glutinous, when inspected from the score itself. But the sharp harmonic outline and clear rhythmic plan employed prove otherwise. This music of dynamic tensility is not for relaxation in the drawing room. It is adventurous, highly effective, and profound. [Arthur Cohn]
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