[Hans Krása] String Quartet Op.2 (Score-Video)

This quartet has 3 movements, composed in 1921: 00:03 - I. Moderato 06:24 - II. Prestissimo – Molto calmo – Volgare 11:59 - III. Molto lento e tranquillo Performers: Adamas Quartett —————— Special Thanks to my friend ‪@工具人-p8n‬ for permission to reupload his video on YouTube! Here's the original video link: www.bilibili.com/video/BV1TntH6jESz/ —————— Although his early works have not been preserved, his second published work, the String Quartet, is already impressive in its maturity and expressive power. If one spontaneously recalls both of the style-defining works of his two-generation-older compatriot Leoš Janáček, one would be surprised to discover that they were respectively composed two and seven years after Krása composed his String Quartet. Interestingly, in this work one can very much notice a similar aesthetic positioning in the Czechoslovakia of the 1920s—which was also assimilated by other composers. Krása's quartet was written in May of 1921, around the time of the world premiere of his Grotesques for Orchestra With Accompanying Singing Voice, composed the previous year. The Grotesques largely contained hymnal critiques. In Krása was seen a new star in the composers' heavens. It is astonishing that the String Quartet was not immediately performed. During this time, Krása was preparing for his stay in Paris, and it is possible that he wanted to have this work in his suitcase for an opportunity to premiere it there. The premiere took place in the French capital on May 12, 1923, in an intimate setting of around a hundred listeners in the editorial offices of the Revue musicale newspaper. The String Quartet had to be repeated twice on the occasion of its premiere. If the first of the three movements (Moderato) exhibits an artfully shaped sonata form, special attention is surely due the second movement (Prestissimo), which from the very beginning brings a grotesquely distorted variant of the theme of the overture, and later the Hans–Marie duet, from Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride. Given this ironic handling of a Czech national musical sanctum, one might think of Krása’s oft-described humor, yet it is precisely this technique that simultaneously poses questions as to the statement of the work as a whole, questions that in the third movement (Molto lento e tranquillo) are similarly further concealed rather than answered. One might view the music entirely in front of the background of the recently shattered Danube Monarchy (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) and Czechoslovakia’s start of a new era—a future that at the beginning of the 1920s indeed looked extremely uncertain to the majority of the German-speaking population to which Krása belonged. (Source from Booklet of Gramola99109; Written by Christian Heindl; Translated into English by Albert Frantz) —————— I do not own neither the score, nor the recordings used in this video. This is only for educational purposes. If you have any complaints regarding copyright issues, please write to me directly at asorabji20(at)gmail(dot)com before submitting a report to YouTube and I will remove the video ASAP.