Pyotr Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No 1 in D Major, op.11

 

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

(1840~1893)

 

 

 String Quartet No 1 in D Major, op.11

 

CONCERT HALL OF THE MARIINSKY THEATRE
Sunday, 11 November 2012
The State Borodin Quartet
Ruben Aharonian - violin
Sergei Lomovsky - violin
Igor Naidin - viola
Vladimir Balshin - cello

                            

 

The String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Opus 11, was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's first completed string quartet of three string quartets, published during his lifetime. (An earlier attempt had been abandoned after the first movement had been completed.^[1]) Composed in February 1871, it was premiered in Moscow on 16/28 March 1871 by four members of the Russian Musical Society: Ferdinand Laub and Ludvig Minkus, violins; Pryanishnikov, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.^[2]

Structure

The quartet has four movements:

1. Moderato e semplice (D major)
2. Andante cantabile (B♭ major)
3. Scherzo. Allegro non tanto e con fuoco – Trio (D minor)
4. Finale. Allegro giusto – Allegro vivace (D major)

The melancholic Andante cantabile movement, which has become famous in its own right, was based on a folk song the composer heard at his sister's house at Kamenka  whistled by a house painter. When the quartet was performed at a tribute concert for Leo Tolstoy, the author was said to have

been brought to tears by this movement. “…Tolstoy, sitting next to me and listening to the Andante of my First Quartet, burst into tears"

 

Borodin Quartet

 

When the Zoellner Quartet, at her request, performed the second movement for Helen Keller, who

rested her fingertips on a resonant tabletop to sense the vibrations, she, too, reacted strongly.^[7]

Since the time of the composer, the Andante cantabile movement has frequently been performed in arrangements for string orchestra. The melody from the 2nd theme of the Andante cantabile, in D-flat major, was also used as the basis for the popular song on the Isle of May", popularized by Connee Boswell in 1940.

 

<노래말>

On The Isle Of May (Connee Boswell)

We strolled along
Through the heavens
And it was June
June on the Isle of May

Your lips were sweet
As the heaven
Love was in bloom
There on the Isle of May

Close in your arms
Heaven opened its doors
Then like a fool
I sailed away

But our love
Will bring us together
When it is June
June on the Isle of May

(Instrumental break)

Close in your arms
Heaven opened its doors
Then like a fool
I sailed away

But our love
Will bring us together
When it is June
June on the Isle of May