Ravel- String Quartet in F Major, Part III
The third movement of Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major.
III. Tres lent
Under a sustained viola, the rest of the quartet plays a sharp, 3-note motive consisting of two short notes followed by a long note. The viola, hesitant to leave its opening note, does not stray far in either of its first two phrases. A tremolo rising and falling line from the quartet plays nervously (0:41) before the viola begins its third statement of the first theme.
At 1:07 theme two begins, lyric and much more open than theme one. Theme one motives from the first movement appear quietly in the first violin at 1:33. A violin/cello duet extends this idea before it returns at 2:05 to calm, sustained chords in the other instruments. The viola then returns us to the third movement material over a moving accompaniment from the viola and cello. An ascent that starts in the cello and moves upward to the first violin (2:42) leads to more movement one motives in the violin. A lyric interlude follows (3:19) as the viola and violins slowly weave around each other.
At 3:39 the violin plays a rich, deep-sounding version of movement one, theme one. The cello soon asserts its presence with a crescendo and a jaunty descent which is answered by the other voices (3:55). The cello continues its recitative and descends to a sustain. At 4:09 a tremolo descent from the violins and viola forces the cello even lower. Another tremolo descent revives the cello as it then ascends into the highest reaches of its range. A single note is passed around the quartet and winds up on the viola (4:52).
A lively accompaniment begins with low notes in the cello topped with lively figures in the violin as the viola begins another compact melody, although at a faster tempo than the beginning of the movement. The melody is repeated by the violin and viola (5:06) before movement one, theme one motives return (moderately embellished and transformed) at 5:24, which soon crescendo and resolve to a long descent.
At 5:54 the 3-note motive from the beginning of the movement returns as the violin plays the theme. The 3-note motive gains prominence at 6:06, answered by pizzicato ascents. The motive begins to repeat and is passed from the violin to the viola. The second violin plays the lyric theme over the repeating 3-note motive (6:32). The cello plays a series of ascents that get taken up by the violin as movement one, theme one motives return in the violin over agitated tremolos (7:03). A descent in the violin is taken up in the viola, who again begins a lyric passage above a moving bass line. Movement one, theme one motives are played quietly in the viola (7:48) and repeated high in the violin who sequences them downwards. 3-note motives return (8:08) as the viola and cello play a series of legato 3-note descents soon interrupted by a tremolo rising and falling line from the violins. At 8:54 movement one, theme one motives make their final appearance as the movement ends on an airy chord.
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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.
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