String Quartet No. 4 (Stenhammar)
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The String Quartet No. 4 in A minor, Op. 25, is the fourth in a cycle of six numbered string quartets written by Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar. In four movements, the work was completed in 1909 and the premiere performance was given by the Aulin Quartet in Stockholm in 1910.[1] The score was published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen in 1912.[2] Stenhammar dedicated the work to his fellow composer, contemporary, and friend, Jean Sibelius.[3]
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Stenhammar had completed the third in his cycle of six numbered string quartets in 1900, and almost a decade was to pass before he completed another. At this time, his principal source of income was from public concert performances, as pianist or conductor, commitments that significantly limited the time he could devote to composition.[4] Work on String Quartet No. 4 began in 1904. Sketches for the first movement were made but not developed until the winter of 1906/07, in Florence, where Stenhammar had the opportunity to take sabbatical leave from his heavy performance schedule. On his return to Sweden, he was appointed principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, a post he would hold for the next fifteen years, and time for composing became limited mostly to the summer months. The remaining movements of the quartet were completed in August, 1909, during a summer vacation with his family on the shores of Lake Vättern.[4][5]
The eminent Swedish music scholar Bo Wallner has noted that the 5-year time span over which this quartet was written marks a period of remarkable inspiration in Stenhammar's career as a composer, notwithstanding his other commitments.[5] Notable works completed in this time period also include the Cantata Et Folk, Op. 22, the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 23, and the rhapsody Midvinter for mixed chorus and orchestra, Op. 24.
Dedication
Stenhammar had originally intended to dedicate his Symphony No. 1 in F major to Sibelius.[3] Although the symphony was well received at its premiere performance in 1903, Stenhammar himself was dissatisfied and decided to withdraw the work. A few weeks previously he had attended the Swedish premiere of Sibelius's Symphony No. 2, which had made a deep impression on him, and he considered his own symphony to be inadequate in comparison. Stenhammar's wish to create a work he considered worthy of dedication to Sibelius was later realized in the String Quartet No. 4. Sibelius, in return, dedicated his Symphony No. 6, completed in 1923, to Stenhammar.
Structure
In common with many string quartets written in the classical style, Stenhammar's String Quartet No. 4 follows a traditional four-movement structure:[2]
- Allegro ma non troppo (in A minor)
- Adagio (in A major)
- Scherzo: Allegro (in C major)
- Aria variata: Andante semplice (in A minor)
The 4th movement consists of a theme followed by 11 variations and a coda, in which the theme is based on the Swedish folk song Och riddaren han talte till unga Hillevi (And the Knight Spoke to Young Hillevi).[4] A typical performance of the entire work lasts for approximately 34 minutes.