Ravel- String Quartet in F Major, Part II
The second movement of Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major.
- Allegro moderato- Tres doux
- Assez vif- Tres rhythme
- Tres lent
- Vif et agite
II. Assez vif- Tres rhythme
Ternary form
The second movement opens with all the members of the quartet playing pizzicato in a pointed, guitar-like fashion. Ascending trills in the violin (0:11) lead to a contrasting, lyric melody played over quiet but energetic figures in the rest of the quartet. The contrasting melody is taken up by the cello as pizzicato figures dart in and out. A series of 3-note descending tremolos (0:39) lead to accented, tutti tremolos and then a pizzicato ascent back into the opening passage. Another violin trill brings back the contrasting theme (1:04), repeated in the cello. A long tremolo descent (1:30) accompanied by pizzicato ascents lead to quiet theme one motives and low pizzicato trills in the cello.
The trio begins with a tutti chord at 1:56 before the viola begins a lyric melody with quiet accompaniment. The trio is tinted with minor, and seems to wander. The second phrase in the violin at 2:47 is based off of a 4-note motive (3 descending, 1 rising) which is modified and extended by the viola (3:13). The violin takes up this modified idea briefly and after pizzicato accompaniment (3:30) plays high in its register to darkly fluttering violins and swelling lines capped with a pizzicato (3:59).
The ominous tremolos continue to lurk around the violin before the transition back to the opening theme begins with pizzicatos in the cello, echoed by the violin at 4:18. The first violin plays a repetitive triplet figure as trio motives are heard (4:33) over theme one pizzicato motives in the cello.
Rapid pizzicatos low in the cello become more agitated at 5:15 and ascend and spread to the rest of the quartet who play theme one motives which returns in force at 5:39. The contrasting lyric theme returns in the violin and cello. The long tremolo descent at 6:17 is accompanied by rising pizzicato lines which transform into theme one motives that sequence upwards as the underlying tremolos gather strength, finally reducing the pizzicato figures to a pathetic three-note ascent (6:40), soon followed by a grace-note like figure that ends the movement.
=*=
If you are interested in listening to a recording, I recommend the Alben Berg String Quartet’s 1992 recording on EMI. You can buy this recording from Amazon by clicking on the image below. Unfortunately this is a bit hard to find and is not available on iTunes. As an alternative, the Emerson String Quartet’s recording on Deutsche Grammophone is also very good.
This article is part of the Music 365 series. To find out more about this project, please visit the project homepage. If you enjoyed this summary or otherwise found it helpful, consider leaving a note in the comments or Stumbling it using the button below.
Technorati Tags: Music 365, quartet, theme, motive, violin, melody, harmony, tremolo, chord, rhythm, sonata, exposition, introduction, recapitulation, coda, cadence, scale, listening guide, arpeggio, viola, cello, bass, Ravel, Paris Conservatory, Debussy, Faure, pizzicato
