Jean Sibelius - String Quartet in D-Minor op. 56,

Jean Sibelius

 String Quartet in D-Minor op. 56,

Op. 56 String quartet in D minor (Voces intimae):
1. Andante - Allegro molto moderato, 2. Vivace, 3. Adagio di molto, 4.
Allegretto (ma pesante), 5. Allegro. Completed in 1909.

Copenhagen String Quartet
ensemble, Recorded in the 1960's.
Tutter Givskov, violin.
Mogens Lydolph, violin.
Mogens Bruun, viola.
Asger Lund Christiansen, violoncello.

Although Sibelius wrote dozens of chamber music works in his youth, after the year 1891 he almost completely neglected the composition of trios, quartets and quintets. However, he made an exception in 1909, when he wrote the string quartet in D minor (Voces intimae). It is the only major work for string quartet of Sibelius's mature period.

Sibelius began to write the quartet in earnest in December 1908, after completing Night Ride and Sunrise. At the beginning of 1909 he continued to compose it while he was in London. on the 15th April he presented his quartet Voces intimae to the publisher, Lienau. "It turned out as something wonderful. The kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death. I will say no more," Sibelius wrote self-confidently to Aino.

Voces intimae was performed for the first time at a concert of the Helsinki Music Institute on 25th April 1910, almost a year after it was completed. "The composition attracted a great deal of attention, and it is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant products in its field. It is not a composition for the public at large, it is so eccentric and out of the ordinary," was the verdict in Helsingin Sanomat.