Knapp 1 Rachael Knapp Music History III Spring 2011 The String Quartets of Benjamin Britten The English composer Benjamin Edward Britten (1913-1976) was the most among the 1
prolific chamber music composers of his time , and in his vast chamber music output, there are three numbered string quartets. These pieces demonstrate the composer’s skill and creativity, some of the general traits of all his work, especially ch amber music, and are good examples of how his style and technique changed as he matured and changed as a composer. There are similarities and differences to be seen between these three qu artets, which were written in 1941, 1945 and 1975 respectively. Chamber music was really important to Britten as both a composer and performer. According to Donald Mitchell, a close friend of Britten and student and advocate of his music, all of Britten’s music can be approached from a chamber music perspective. He says, sa ys, “I am tempted to suggest that there is no distinction to be made —that all Britten’s music is, or aspires aspires 2
to the condition of, chamber music.” He favored smaller ensembles and regardless of the medium, he used chamber-music like traits. Similar to how Mahler included chamber musical 3
qualities in symphonies. His music often has “very precisely calculated sound with transparency as the main objective, and spare, often sparse textures.” He was also greatly influenced by fellow composer and chamber musician Frank Bridge (1879-1941), whom he met through his first viola teach er, and at whose home ho me Britten spent a
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Mitchell, Donald, “The Chamber Music: An Introduction,” in The Britten Companion, ed. Christopher Palmer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 370. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., 369.
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great deal of time. By the time he was a young teenager, Britten had written over a hundred pieces, and Bridge was very impressed with his work. Britten was allowed then to travel to London for composition lessons with him. One o f his ideals that had a big influence on Britten is to “find yourself and be true to what you found.” This can be seen in the non-musical aspects of 5
Britten’s life as well as his music. Britten’s String Quartet in F, written in 1928 was one of the first major pieces written under Bridge. In addition to composition lessons, they would also play chamber music together for fun, something which they continued to do for the rest of Bridge’s 6
life. Britten was primarily a pianist, but he also played viola, and so had firsthand chamber music experience as a string player.
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Britten had an extensive knowledge of the standard repertory. He regularly studied, listened to performances on the radio, or attend ed live performances of chamber music, as well as performing chamber music as a pianist. While he was in college especially, he would take every opportunity to hear whatever he could. He was quite a dedicated listener and would notice details about the music he was hearing. And as he was maturing as a composer, before his main quartets came out, he was becoming very familiar with the chamber music of the standard 8
repertory.
Most of his chamber music was written for his friends, and they were usually “carefully 9
designed to display each player’s individual virtuosity to its best adv antage.” The majority of his chamber music is for one or two instruments, but it is interesting to note that he never did
4
Philip Brett, et al, "Britten, Benjamin," in Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/46435, accessed 11 May 2011. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Mitchell, “The Chamber Music,” 371. 8 Ibid., 370. 9 Matthews, David, “The String Quartets and some other Chamber Works,” in The Britten Companion, ed. Christopher Palmer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 384.
Knapp 3 write a major work for solo piano.
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According to David Matthews, fellow composer and lon g-
time friend of Benjamin Britten, “at least half [of Britten’s chamber music works] are relatively lightweight; a few are masterpieces,” and “the three numbered string quartets are…the finest of all his chamber works, and the most fruitful to discuss from a technical point of view.”
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Before he got to writing his three numbered string quartets, Britten had already had a lot of experience writing for that medium. Among his e arlier works are a Phantasy Quartet for oboe quartet (1932), Phantasy Quintet for strings (1934), and a String Quartet in D major, which he wrote in 1931 and which was published in 1975 after some slight revisions. Th at was the only 12
early string quartet that was published while he was alive. In his early days of chamber music composition, Britten was hesitant to write an actual string quartet. He was very critical of his own work, and the string quartet was so significant a genre that it would have surely been judged very critically by others as well.
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He wrote String Quartet no. 1 in D, op. 25, in California in the summer of 1941. By that point he had developed excellent compositional technique, and this work was, in part, a way for the young composer to show off his skill. This quartet does do that; it is impressive in a number of ways. One interesting thing is the way the sonata form is handled in the first movement. According to Matthews, “The majority of Britten’s sonata movements are fou nd in his early works, and the First Quartet is the culmination of this e arly, intensive concern with the 14
sonata.”
The interesting layout of the tempo changes h as the effect of disguising the form. The
movement opens with a slow section that seems like an introduction with the first violin, second violin, and viola parts on the high F#, E, and D, respectively (see Example 1a). Then at measure 10
Ibid., 383. Ibid. 12 Ibid., 385. 13 Mitchell, “The Chamber Music,” 372. 14 Ibid. 11
Knapp 4 119 (see Example 1b), at the beginning of what we might call the recapitulation, we see almost the same thing, but the first violin part has a ll three of those notes, doubled by the second violin two octaves lower. A careful listener will recognize the familiar sonority, and the change in texture is very refreshing. So after the slow introduction, the quicker second theme, and some toying around with tonality and rhythms, we come back to the opening in an innovative and exciting way, but the outline of sonata form can still be traced.
Ex. 1a String Quartet no. 1, op. 256, mvt. I, measures 1-3.
Ex. 1b String Quartet no. 1, op. 25, mvt. I, measure 119-121. Another interesting aspect about this movement is the tonality. D major is fairly clearly presented throughout, but the note C natural keeps popping up, especially in the cello part. So
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when we do arrive at the final cadence in D major, it doesn’t seem com pletely convincing.
There is a section in the middle of the development section, approximately measures 75-95, where F is a temporary tonic. Then the recurring C natural we’ve had all along becomes a dominant, and the transition works well. The Finale of Quartet no. 1 is also reminiscent of Beethoven in texture, dynamic contrast, and intensity, as well motivic usage. The rhythm of two sixteenth notes followed by an eighth is all over throughout the movement, and reminds me of the way Beethoven used motives, especially rhythmically. It is interesting to note that, although Britten admired and was influenced by Beethoven’s work early in his compositional career, “the mature Britten found 16
much of Beethoven’s music unacceptable.”
I also discovered in this fourth movement some interesting similarities to the first movement, including the way he organizes the voices. Recall example 1 above, the opening of the first movement, where the upper three voices are sustaining together, and the lone cello has pizzicato notes underneath. Now we can see in example 4, in this section in the fourth movement beginning in measure 498, the upper three voices are actually in unison, playing a more sustained melody over the cello’s heavy rhythmic line.
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Ibid., 387. Ibid.
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Ex. 2 String Quartet no. 1, op. 25, mvt. 4, measures 497-506 The upper voices are playing one of the main recurring themes of this movement, and it helps to bring a sense of unity to the piece as a whole to have this major textural similarity. Between the writing of the First Quartet and the Second, Britten returned home from America, came back to England, and wrote Peter Grimes. String Quartet no. 2 in C major was written in 1945 immediately after Peter Grimes. It was commissioned to commemorate the 250
th
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anniversary of Henry Purcell’s death , which is interesting to note for a couple of reasons. There were similarities between Purcell’s career and Britten’s; Purcell began composing in his childhood and was well-known by his 20s. Also, the fourth movement is a chaconne after the style of Purcell, and the title of the movement is even spelled how Purcell would have spelled it: “chacony.”
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Felsenfeld, Daniel, “A Unified Voice,” Strings 19/10 (May 2005): 28. Ibid.
Knapp 7 It is a more mature, assured work, not as “youthful” as the first one. It was written during his peak as a composer, when he was really becoming well-known. Peter Grimes was one of his most major works, and it essentially took him from amateur to professional, which is also shown in his Second Quartet.
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Britten himself said, “It is the greatest advance I have made, and 20
although it is far from perfect, it has given me encouragement to continue on new lines.” It’s about 30 minutes long, but most of the length comes from the third movement, which is close to 20 minutes. The tonality of this quartet is very interesting to study. Britten proves Arnold Schoenberg’s famous statement, “there is still plenty of good music to be written in C major,” with this quartet. But it’s not exactly in C major ho w we might expect C major to be. Daniel Felsenfeld, a contemporary composer and scholar, describes it well: This is not to say it is in C major as Ha ydn or Mozart would write in C major, but Britten has the note C, and a certain majorness to it; in the case of the second movement a minorness to draw on, using the rules of tonality more like a guide: C is a constant “home note.” …Each separate movement adventures in and out of the home key in a fascinating, telling, and puckish way. Subtly, Britten’s very British sense of humor is on full display 21
here.”
The very beginning, with the opening chord of a tenth, signals to us that we are, in fact, in C major. But then the melody rises to an A flat, introducing to the ton al conflict that continues throughout the rest of the movement (see example 3). Britten also has three parts against one again in this piece, as in the first quartet. In the opening we see three voices together in unison, and the fourth voice sustaining. But this time it’s not just upper three voices together; as we can 19
Ibid. Ibid. 21 Ibid. 20
Knapp 8 see in example 4 below, this movement starts with the violins and cello together, and the viola just sustaining that interval of a tenth.
Ex. 3 String Quartet no. 2, op. 36, mvt. I, measures 1-5 Then later on, the sustained note switches to th e second violin, then to the cello part. Also notice in this example, the A-flat in the third measure, which undermines the C major tonality. But this opening section is as clearly in C major as the movement will get, for before too long, it wanders off until we’re really not sure what’s going on tonally (see example 4). By the time we get to letter E, we have violin 1 on G-sharp, violin 2 on B, and viola on A. They continue in that clustered fashion for a while, through a section chock full of sharps; it gets pretty much as far away from C major as is possible to get. It does come back eventually, but we can see in these examples how unusual this supposed C major tonality really is.
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Ex. 4 String Quartet no. 2, op. 36, mvt. 1 The second movement is a brief Vivace that is mostly in C minor. It is quick and energetic, and it gives a striking contrast to the placid mood of the first movement. The third movement is a nearly twenty-minute chaconne. It seems logical to end a piece dedicated to Purcell with a chaconne, and this one is intense. It consists of a theme plus twenty-one variations, separated into four sections by three cadenzas, played by the cello, viola, and first violin. It is not surprising that the viola cadenza is particularly brilliant, as Britten was an 22
excellent violist and had a certain fondness for the instrument.
The last fifteen measures of the movement contain twenty-one C major chords, one for each variation, which, when played together and in tune, produce a stunning effect. The same
22
Felsenfeld, “A Unified Voice,” 30 -31.
Knapp 10 rhythm we heard at the beginning is brought back, and C major is reinforced, although sprinkled with a few extra pitches, like B-flat, E-flat, or D, h ere and there. After his Second Quartet, Britten didn’t write another one for thirty years. During that middle section of his career, he focused on opera, and left the instrumental music at the 23
beginning and end of his career. But then finally, at the end of his life, he wrote his Third String Quartet, op. 94, in October and November of 1975. This piece is in five movements with interesting and significant titles: Duets, Ostinato, Solo, Burlesque, and Recitative and Passacaglia. According to Michael Kennedy, an English writer and music critic, the place of this Third Quartet in Britten’s compositional output can be compared to that of Beethoven’s late string quartets.
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He says, “The simplicity and tranquility of…this quartet represent the essence
of Britten’s musical achievement over a creative span o f fifty years.”
25
It is a really fascinating
work, but I have found it less readily understood than the others, and actually than most of his instrumental music. The organization is less of a traditional string quartet and more of a suitelike collection of memorable movements, a form which Britten was fond of, especially in his 26
chamber music.
The final movement, subtitled La serenissima, opens with a recitative section, which gives a feeling much like that of a recitative section of a traditional opera. When the passacaglia starts, the cello states part of the barcarolle from the composer’s opera Death in Venice, and other bits from the opera are heard in the other instruments throughout the rest of the
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Matthews, “The String Quartets,” 383. Kennedy, Michael, Britten (London: Dent, 1981), 265. 25 Ibid. 264. 26 Mitchell, “The Chamber Music,” 371. 24
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movement. The movement ends quite calmly, but just when we expect to hear a cadence in E major, the final chord is something else that leaves us with a feeling of ambiguity (see example 5).
Ex. 5 String Quartet no. 3, op. 94, mvt. V, ending. This ending can leave us questioning; the seventh chord doesn’t resolve at all, but just fades away. It seems a fitting ending for a composer who contributed so much to Chamber music, and to the genre of the string quartet. David Matthews sums up well the place that this quartet, Britten’s last piece of chamber music, holds: Composers have often reserved some of their finest thoughts for chamber music and especially for the string quartet. Britten’s Quartet No. 3 proves no exception to that general rule and also unforgettably consummates the rich contribution to the genre made by a composer who was entirely a chamber musician in whichever field he worked.
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Kennedy, Britten, 266. Matthews, “The String Quartets,” 384.
Knapp 12 Bibliography Brett, Philip, et al. "Britten, Benjamin." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/46435 (accessed March 9, 2011). Britten, Benjamin. String Quartet no. 1, op. 25. Boosey & Hawkes, 1942. Britten, Benjamin. String Quartet no. 2, op. 36. Boosey & Hawkes, 1946. Britten, Benjamin. String Quartet no. 3, op. 94 (1975). London: Faber Music, 2006. Felsenfeld, Daniel. “A Unified Voice.” Strings 19, no. 10 (May 2005): 28, 30-31. Kennedy, Michael. Britten. London: Dent, 1981. Mark, Christopher. Early Benjamin Britten: a Study of Stylistic and Technical Evolution. New York: Garland, 1995. Mitchell, Donald. “The Chamber Music: An Introduction.” In The Britten Companion, edited by Christopher Palmer, 369-374. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Palmer, Christopher. The Britten Companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Matthews, David. “The String Quartets and some o ther Chamber Works.” In The Britten Companion, edited by Christopher Palmer, 383-392. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Payne, Anthony. “Britten and the String Quartet.” Tempo 163 (1987): 2-4, 6.
