{"id":2401,"date":"2009-04-22T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2009-04-22T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=2401"},"modified":"2013-02-07T19:39:41","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T03:39:41","slug":"bookends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/22\/bookends\/","title":{"rendered":"bookends"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the final post on the Bart\u00f3k String Quartet No. 4. \u00a0Enjoy!<\/p>\n

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 in comparison to the rest of the movements), at more than 5 minutes in length each, and very dense in their construction. \u00a0Now that we’re talking about these movements, it’s appropriate to look at the overall form of the quartet. \u00a0As noted before, there is a central movement which serves as the emotional heart of the piece, the third movement, Non troppo lento<\/em>. \u00a0This movement is encased by the Prestissimo con sordio<\/em> second movement and the Allegretto pizzicato<\/em> fourth movement, which are variations of each other. \u00a0Finally, these three inner movements are enclosed by the Allegro<\/em> first movement and Allegro molto<\/em> fifth movement. \u00a0Here is a diagram to better show what we’re getting at here:<\/p>\n

\"anotherbartokchart\"<\/a>
\n[click to enlarge]<\/p>\n

So we have a prime example of arch form – which Bart\u00f3k would revisit in his Fifth Quartet as well. \u00a0In addition, the whole arch is anchored by these bookends (or piers, to stay with the bridge\/arch analogy), which in turn are anchored to each other by the same thematic basis (see below). \u00a0Moving inward, the second and fourth movements are linked by melodic contour, the second movement being chromatic and the fourth movement diatonic, as noted in the previous post.<\/p>\n

The first movement is a brilliant example of continuous thematic development. \u00a0The entire movement (and for that matter, much of the rest of the entire quartet) is all based upon the interval relationships heard in the opening of the quartet, scattered amongst the instruments:<\/p>\n

\"bartok-motif1\"<\/a>
\n[click to enlarge]<\/p>\n

These intervals become explicit when voice in a single instrument, first in the cello:<\/p>\n

\"bartok-motif0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and then in the first major cadence of the movement, by all four instruments:<\/p>\n

\"bartok-motif2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s the first major section of the first movement, so you can hear how things develop:<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/audio\/bartok\/mvt1.mp3]\n

and here is where the first theme of the first movement starts to evolve back in to the fifth movement (listen to the cello about 10 seconds into this clip):<\/p>\n[audio:http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/audio\/bartok\/mvt5.mp3]\n

There are some excellent resources on the web which delve more deeply into the musicological aspects of this piece, concerning pitch cells, rhythmic cells, etc., and I won’t go into those here, mostly because that stuff just mystifies the hell out of me! \u00a0A good site to look at for more info on this is located here<\/a>. \u00a0There is a bit of conflicting information on whether Bart\u00f3k consciously used the Golden Section as a means of musical organization, but the site cited above has a bit of information about that as well as the Wikipedia entry on the Golden Section and music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The audio examples are from EMI’s excellent recording of the Belcea Quartet<\/a>\"\".<\/p>\n

All of this aside, the Bart\u00f3k Fourth Quartet is one of the reigning achievements of 20th century music, and I hope that it becomes one of your favorites as well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 in comparison to the rest […]<\/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":[148,564,136,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-audio","category-chamber-music","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sa8kC-bookends","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13142,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/08\/beethoven-the-humorist-or-humorless\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":0},"title":"beethoven the humorist, or humorless?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"You'll get to decide for yourself into which camp Beethoven falls at our upcoming Oregon Symphony concerts this weekend. The concerts are billed as Emanuel Ax Plays Bach & Strauss, but they could have just as easily been entitled Beethoven: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Well, actually, since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "concert preview"","block_context":{"text":"concert preview","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/concert-preview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beethoven Op. 134 manuscript","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7377\/11897500235_924a41c696_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7377\/11897500235_924a41c696_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7377\/11897500235_924a41c696_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2338,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/17\/heart-of-the-fourth\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":1},"title":"heart of the fourth","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bartok31","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/bartok31-400x529.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/11\/15\/beethovens-op-130-quartet-i-adagio-ma-non-troppo-allegro\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":2},"title":"beethoven’s Op. 130 quartet – I. Adagio ma non troppo. Allegro.","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, we in the Arnica Quartet got through our first late Beethoven quartet together Sunday afternoon. With a piece of the size and complexity of the Op. 130, it would stand to reason that there would be places that we'd like to have done better, but on the whole, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7667,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/16\/beethoven-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":3},"title":"beethoven love","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a brief post (unfinished) about Beethoven's Op. 127 string quartet, which I performed last night in the debut performance of the Bainbridge Quartet. It's really always an adventure to play any Beethoven quartet. It doesn't matter if it's an early, middle, or late period quartet. Beethoven demands the ultimate\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":271,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/10\/pacific-quartet-concert-impressions\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":4},"title":"pacifica quartet concert impressions","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night I was able to attend the second of two concerts by the Pacifica Quartet at Portland State University's Lincoln Hall. It was a wonderful program (if a bit conservative) that showed what a wonderful young quartet the Pacifica has become. The program began with Mozart's \"Dissonant\" Quartet, Kv.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"pacifica.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/pacifica.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/21\/the-frenetic-middle\/","url_meta":{"origin":2401,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401","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=2401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}