Rondo in C minor (Bruckner)
The Rondo in C minor (WAB deest) is a composition for string quartet by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner. It was written in 1862 but was not performed publicly until 1984, after the composer's death. A critical edition was first published in 1985 and the piece was first recorded in 1992 by the Raphael Quartet.
History
Bruckner composed his String Quartet in 1862 as a student exercise assigned by his form and orchestration teacher, Otto Kitzler.[1] When Kitzler remarked that that piece's final rondo movement could have been more fully developed, Bruckner responded by creating this new five-minute large rondo form, significantly different in musical content from the rondo of the quartet and 40 measures longer. However, he did not intend for the Quartet to be publicly performed with either rondo, or for the Rondo in C minor to be performed independently, as he saw the compositions only as technical studies.[2][3]
The autograph date on the work is 15 August 1862. The Rondo in C minor was part of the Kitzler Studienbuch, a collection of autographs and sketches created during Bruckner's studies with Kitzler, and like much of this collection it was not widely known until well after the composer's death.[4] The Rondo in C minor was premiered on 17 August 1984 in Vienna as part of a celebration of the eightieth birthday of Leopold Nowak, the musicologist known for editing the works of Bruckner.[5] His edited critical edition of the Rondo was first published in 1985.[6]
Music
The piece in C minor and 2/4 time is sparingly notated, with few indications of dynamic. Writing for AllMusic, Wayne Reisig remarks that the work's "overall fleet mood will bring to mind Mendelssohn".[2] The reviewer Richard Whitehouse notes that the Rondo's "less angular phrasing and the secondary theme's more expansive manner give the composer greater room to elaborate his material" than in the String Quartet's original rondo. He also describes "a more fully developed central section, serving to place less emphasis on the themes at their reappearance" and a coda that "draws on more imitative means to less forceful ends".[7] The critic Robert Markow for the music publication Fanfare suggests that the Rondo "sounds far more like Haydn than like the Bruckner we know from the symphonies that were soon to follow".[8]
Discography
- Fine Arts Quartet (2008). BRUCKNER: String Quintet in F Major / String Quartet in C Minor. Naxos.
- L'Archibudelli (1995). Anton Bruckner: String Quintet; Intermezzo; Rondo; String Quartet. Sony Music Distribution.
- Raphael Quartet (1992). Bruckner: String Quintet; Rondo; Intermezzo. Globe.
- Ruysdael Quartet (2010). First Steps. Cobra Music.
References
- ^ Gault, Dermot (2013). The New Bruckner. Ashgate. pp. 13–14.
- ^ a b Reisig, Wayne. "Rondo for string quartet in C minor by Anton Bruckner". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Staines, Joe, ed. (2010). The Rough Guide to Classical Music (5th ed.). Rough Guides. p. 118. ISBN 9781405383219.
- ^ Hawkshaw, Paul. "A Composer Learns His Craft: Anton Bruckner's Lessons in Form and Orchestration, 1861–63". The Musical Quarterly. 82 (2): 336–361.
- ^ van Zwol, C (2012). Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken. Thot. p. 676. ISBN 90-686-8590-2.
- ^ "Anton Bruckner Critical Complete Edition". MWV. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Whitehouse, Richard (2008). "Review of BRUCKNER: String Quintet in F Major / String Quartet in C Minor". Naxos. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Markow, Robert (2010). "First Steps". Fanfare. 34 (1): 543–544.
Further reading
- Nowak, Leopold (1985). "Foreword". Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke: Band 12 Teil 1: Rondo C-Moll: Studienpartitur. Eugene Hartzell (trans). Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft.
External links
- Free scores by Rondo in C minor for String Quartet at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
