Zoltán Kodály 1882-1967
String Quartet No. 2, Opus 10
Allegro
Andante. Allegro giocoso

The very real accomplishments of Zoltán Kodály have always been somewhat overshadowed by the notoriety of his great friend and countryman Béla Bartók. While both were alive and at their peaks, the work of Bartók engendered the most interest and controversy; and after Bartók's passing Kodály, though still active, had ceased to produce major compositions. The two met in 1900 while students at the Budapest Academy and began a friendship that lasted until Bartók died in 1945. The two men shared a consuming passion for Hungarian folk music and during their many expeditions into their native countryside the pair unearthed and documented thousands of original folk melodies. The work of both composers was profoundly affected by the individualistic traits of Hungarian folk song and dance yet despite their closeness neither composer was much influenced by the other. Kodály's music is essentially different from that of his friend. He is much more lyrical and his work has a greater clarity and lucidity. He often gives voice to gentle and contemplative moods and on the whole his music is much more accessible than that of Bartók.

Upon Bartók's death Kodály gave an impassioned funeral eulogy for his friend and inherited his mantle of Hungary's greatest living composer. Kodály continued to compose until the end of his life, completing his last work in 1966 at the age of 84. His composing career spanned an incredible 69 years - his earliest surviving pieces dating from 1897. His work can be roughly divided into three periods. For the first 20 years he was almost totally preoccupied with chamber works and songs. The next two decades saw him concentrate on symphonic works, oratorios and large choruses. During his last three decades he produced mostly light choruses and singing exercises.
Tonight's piece is the second of two string quartets by the composer. The monumental first quartet of 1909 is twice the length of the delightful, compact second quartet of 1918. By the time he began work on this evening's piece he had been deeply involved in Hungarian folk music for more than 10 years and the essence of this music had thoroughly permeated his work. The second quartet is in two movements. The first is monothematic with none of the subjects having a definite profile. By contrast, the second movement employs six subjects, each with a different character, and providing evidence of Kodály's gift for rich, melodic invention. The composer's ability to achieve a remarkable range of effects with only four instruments is manifest throughout but is particularly on display in the concluding movement.

Maurice Ravel 1875-1937
String Quartet in F major
Allegro moderato - très doux
Assez vif - très rythmé
Très lent
Vif et agité

Although Ravel's work draws on a variety of inspirational sources, there is always the constant presence of the extraordinary technique that so typifies his music. He wrote that "Conscience compels us to turn ourselves into good craftsmen. My objective, therefore, is technical perfection". Any chronological look at his work shows us that he came ever closer to achieving his goal. As his career neared its end, however, he did have some reservations. Late in life he remarked that he would willingly exchange the technical perfection of his mature work for the artless strength of his youth. In the piece we will hear tonight, we get the best of both worlds. While we marvel at the perfection of form achieved by one so young, we can still enjoy the spontaneity of youth that permeates the work. The String Quartet is the first of Ravel's works to be deemed a masterpiece. It was completed in 1903 while he was at the Paris Conservatory and first performed to a rapturous reception in 1904. The composer dedicated the piece to his teacher at the conservatory, Gabriel Faure. Ravel would later write of the quartet that "more than any of my earlier works, it was in line with my ideas of musical structure". It was one of many pieces he wrote in the impressionistic style that was sweeping the worlds of art and music and that he came to master. To do this, however, he was forced to cross paths with the established titan in the field, Claude Debussy. Debussy's own impressionistic String Quartet had taken the musical world by storm 10 years earlier and although he greatly admired Ravel's composition, the resulting public comparisons of the two pieces eventually caused a breach between the two men.

The piece opens with a thematic group that contains two ideas: a rich, warmly scored melody involving all the players and a first violin melody over rapid figures in the second violin and viola. The soaring second theme is stated by the first violin and viola playing two octaves apart and producing a most striking tone color. A powerful climax ends the movement.

The second movement is one of shifting moods and tones. It begins with a swift, skittish pizzicato. Trills and tremolas then create a lustrous sheen of lyric beauty before the cello introduces a languorous middle section. A shortened reprise of the opening section closes the movement.

The composer achieves an improvisatory rhapsodic feeling in the slow movement with its constantly changing tempos. In this movement, as in those preceding, there is an ever changing progression of new and imaginative tone colors - a remarkable feat with just four instruments.

A vigorous finale opens with an angry, insistent rush. The rest of the movement alternates between contrasting melodies of power and lyricism. It includes returns of the first movement theme and repeats of the finale's opening outburst.

Wed.
October 29, 2008 7:30
Antares
The Indiana History Center
450 West Ohio Street

Wed.
November 19, 2008 7:30
Quattro Mani
Music for two pianos
The Indiana History Center
450 West Ohio Street

Wed.
March 11, 2009 7:30
Belcea String Quartet
The Indiana History Center
450 West Ohio Street

Wed.
April 22, 2009 7:30
Brentano String Quartet
Indianapolis Central Library
Clowes Auditorium
40 East St. Clair St

Sat.
June 6, 2009 7:30
Guarneri String Quartet
Christel DeHaan
Fine Arts Center
University of Indianapolis
1400 East Hanna Avenue