{"id":2338,"date":"2009-04-17T08:24:38","date_gmt":"2009-04-17T15:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=2338"},"modified":"2009-04-17T08:24:38","modified_gmt":"2009-04-17T15:24:38","slug":"heart-of-the-fourth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/17\/heart-of-the-fourth\/","title":{"rendered":"heart of the fourth"},"content":{"rendered":"

As promised, here is the first of a series of posts concerning Bart\u00c3\u00b3k’s great Fourth String Quartet.<\/em><\/p>\n

The third movement of Bart\u00c3\u00b3k’s Fourth String Quartet is its spiritual heart, as well as its physical center.\u00c2\u00a0 Surrounded by two quicker movements (the very fleet and scurrying second movement, and a more sedate all-pizzicato fourth movement), it is one of his early “night music” pieces, evocative of perfumed nights in exotic locales.<\/p>\n

The movement (Non troppo lento<\/em>) opens with an organ-like chord that begins senza vibrato<\/em>, then all at once begins to shimmer, mirage-like, sempre vibrato<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 The cello enters, and sings its lonely and impassioned song, with the other strings accompanying in a blanket of softly glimmering sound.<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/audio\/bartok\/Non-troppo-lento-ex1.mp3]\n

\"bartok31\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[click to enlarge]<\/p>\n

After the cello sings its song, the violin enters with skittering “insect” music.\u00c2\u00a0 Bart\u00c3\u00b3k was an avid collector of insects (there is a case of his specimens at his home in Budapest) as well as of folk music, and he features this flitting, somewhat creepy music in many of his compositions through out his life.<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/audio\/bartok\/Non-troppo-lento-ex2.mp3]\n

\"bartok3-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is one of the most sublime and beautiful pieces composed in the 20th century, and the heart of the Fourth Quartet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As promised, here is the first of a series of posts concerning Bart\u00c3\u00b3k’s great Fourth String Quartet. The third movement of Bart\u00c3\u00b3k’s Fourth String Quartet is its spiritual heart, as well as its physical center.\u00c2\u00a0 Surrounded by two quicker movements (the very fleet and scurrying second movement, and a more sedate all-pizzicato fourth movement), it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[148,136,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-chamber-music","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-BI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/21\/the-frenetic-middle\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":0},"title":"the frenetic middle","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the second of a series of brief posts about Bart\u00c3\u00b3k's great String Quartet No. 4.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, we look at the two quicker movements that surround the \"night music\" of the central third movement [you can read about that movement here]. The second movement, marked Prestissimo, con sordino, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bartok-2-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/bartok-2-1-400x154.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2375,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/20\/arnica-quartet-the-old-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":1},"title":"arnica quartet @ the old church","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"At 12 Noon this Wednesday, April 22nd, the Arnica Quartet will perform on the Old Church's Sack Lunch concert series (SW 11th and Clay).\u00c2\u00a0 The program will feature two works of the 20th century: Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello (1922) and Bela Bart\u00c3\u00b3k's String Quartet No. 4 (1928).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2331,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/14\/bartok-on-the-brain\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":2},"title":"bart\u00c3\u00b3k on the brain","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Arnica Quartet is in the final push to learn Bart\u00c3\u00b3k's Fouth String Quartet for a concert at the Old Church on April 22nd (at Noon).\u00c2\u00a0 What a piece!\u00c2\u00a0 I know I say this about everything that we are performing, but it's true - the string quartet literature is truly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bartok","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/bartok.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2401,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/22\/bookends\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":3},"title":"bookends","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the final post on the Bart\u00f3k String Quartet No. 4. \u00a0Enjoy! Bookends are sually two fairly massive objects which hold a row of lesser books upright. \u00a0This would be an apt description of the two outer movements of Bart\u00f3k's Fourth Quartet. \u00a0They are large in scope (at least\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"anotherbartokchart","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/anotherbartokchart-400x129.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2435,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/26\/arnica-quartet-in-salem-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":4},"title":"arnica quartet in salem today","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're looking for something to do today that involves great chamber works, then seeing the Arnica Quartet at the Salem Public Library might be just the ticket.\u00c2\u00a0 What's more, the concert is FREE!\u00c2\u00a0 We're being presented by Camerata Musica of Salem, and the program features three great works for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7339,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/02\/21\/quartet-puzzles\/","url_meta":{"origin":2338,"position":5},"title":"quartet puzzles","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first of an occasional series of posts that I'd like to write which concern the torture of playing the viola in a string quartet. Don't get me wrong: playing the viola in a string quartet is just about the best thing a human being can do! But,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "string quartet"","block_context":{"text":"string quartet","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/string-quartet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"musical example","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG-599x131.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG-599x131.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG-599x131.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}