Presents
Kurt Weill
String Quartet No.2, Op.8
Originally published as String Quartet No.1
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) was born in the German city of Dessau. He studied at the Berliner Hochschule fur Musik with Engelberg Humperdinck, Friedrich Koch, then later privately with Ferruccio Busoni. He became a leading composer for the German stage and among his more famous works is his Three Penny Opera in collaboration with Bertolt Brecht. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, he emigrated to the United States.
His first string quartet, known as String Quartet in b minor, dates from 1918 about the time he began his formal studies at the Berliner Hochschule. It has no opus number and was not published during his lifetime. Hence, when his String Quartet Op.8, which was completed in 1923 while he was studying with Busoni and published in 1925, it was given the title No.1, which in fact it was not. Busoni praised the quartet. Originally in four movements, Weill revised it before publication, replacing the first two movements with one that he titled Introduktion. The writing shows that Weill had disgarded the German Romantic style of his earlier work. Though not atonal, it is not tonal in the traditional sense. The second movement, Scherzo, bears no resemblance to the classical or romantic idea of a scherzo, though it is an exciting wild romp. The finale, Choralphantasie, goes through many mood and tempo changes and to an extent is a very modern take off on the counterpoint of Bach with semi fugal episodes, a long cello solo, and a final chord in the major.
This is a very engaging work which audiences will find interesting if it is given in concert. It is not beyond experience amateur players who are familiar with the post romantic idioms.
Parts: $24.95
Parts & Score: $33.95
