User:Silence of Järvenpää/Work (q)

The String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae (lit. 'Intimate voices' or 'Internal voices'), Op. 56, is a five-movement composition for string quartet written from 1908 to 1909 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which the composer characterized as "something wonderful ... the kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death", premiered at the Music Institute in Helsinki on 25 April 1910, with Victor Nováček and Sulo Hurstinen on violin, Carl Lindelöf on viola, and Bror Persfelt on cello. The critics praised Sibelius, who was not in attendance, for... .

Stylistically, Voces intimae quartet forms a "link" between the classicism of the Third Symphony (1907) and the expressionism of the Fourth (1911), the two major works between which it was composed. Like the latter, it is "dark [and] uncompromising, often introspective", similar to the "anguished" incidental music Ödlan (The Lizard), which Sibelius began writing shortly after completing the quartet. (In 1908, Sibelius had just survived a surgery for throat tumors, an experience that left him not only mindful of his own mortality, but also begrudgingly abstemious of alcohol and tobacco.)

Although during his student years Sibelius composed many pieces for string quartet, Voces intimae—chronologically, the last of his four quartets, having been preceded by those in E-flat major (JS 184, 1885), A minor (JS 183, 1889), and B-flat major (Op. 4, 1890)—is the only

piece for this ensemble type that dates to his mature period.

Composition

 * In April 1908, Sibelius had finished Swanwhite and was busy conducting it.
 * In May 1908, however, Sibelius was diagnosed with a benign tumor in his larynx.
 * Around 21 May, a throat operation in Helsinki with a specialist; "presumably it was exploratory and a sample of the tumour was taken".
 * Sibelius advised to go to Berlin to see a renowned specialist: Professor Dr. Fränkel, "whose reputation at the time was second to none".
 * Sibelius, always in debt, lacked the money to go, and "his usual sources of funds had learned of his ill-health and the rumours that he was doomed were rife. For them it was no longer worthwhile to lend him money and many turned their backs on him".
 * Arrives in Berlin at the end of May; the Dr. forbids him to use alcohol and tobacco. "Life is something totally different without these stimulants. I never imagined it could have come to this".
 * There was concern that the benign tumor, if not removed, could eventually become malignant.
 * Fränkel, then quite old, made 13 abortive attempts to remove the tumor, but was unsuccessful. "Finally he sent for a young assistant, who in his turn continued the attempts until finally there was a triumphant cry and the offending growth was cut out. No doctor could have made a 100 percent prognosis for his future progress, and for the next few years Sibelius lived in a danger zone".
 * Spooked by the possibility of an early death, Sibelius stayed away from alcohol and tobacco for the next seven years (1908–1915) and he "redoubled his activity"; over this time he wrote many of his most important works: VI, Symphony No. 4, the first draft of Symphony No. 5, The Barb, Luonnotar, and The Oceanides.
 * He was, as a result of the operation, unable to speak until the middle of July.
 * Began composing VI in Helsinki in November 1908
 * Had just completed the tone poem Nighride and Sunrise that month; he immediately sent it to Alexander Siloti in St. Petersburg, and it premiered to poor reviews at the beginning of the year.
 * In September 1908, Aino gave birth to Margaretha.
 * Write to Carnelian on 8 December 1908: "My debts are frightening ... I have keen hypochondriac twinges''. The next week, he tells Carnelian in a second letter about his daughters: "I have just been to see my two tallest, Kan and Margaretha. They were asleep. Life is before them. This wonderful life that one loves and yet that is so difficult to live".
 * 24 December 1908 writes to Line promising him "imminent delivery" of the new quartet.
 * 13 February 1909 Sibelius conducts En saga and Finlandia at sold out Queen's Hall in London, which forced him to temporarily put VI aside.
 * Stays in London for a while... Meets with Granville Bantock, Rosa Newmarch, Henry Wood
 * Arnold Bax describes Sibelius as follows: "Sibelius gave one the notion that he had never laughed in his life, and never could. That strong taut frame, those cold steel-blue eyes and hard-lipped mouth, were those of a Viking raider, insensible to scruple, tenderness or humour of any sort. An arresting, formidable-looking fellow, born of dark rock and northern forest ..."
 * Continues composing VI in February while in London, despite developing a "hypochondriac cough" due to the London fog. Takes up the second and third movements (well advanced by the 25th) ... moves into private house in Gloucester Walk. Sounds of a "damned Englishwoman" butchering Moonlight Sonata drove Sibelius out, and he re-settled in a new flag at Gordon Place in Kensington.
 * April finds him in Paris in the company of René de Castéra, whom he had met in London. "Why am I running away from the quartet", Sibelius writes in hid diary on 1 April 1909.
 * Perhaps he tied to work on the quartet a bit while in Paris while staying in an economy flat. His old friend Gallén was in Paris at the same time, albeit going through creative drought.
 * Soon flees to Berlin due to renewed fears about the throat, but Fränkel put his fears to rest. This spirits buoyed, his returns to working on the quartet while in Berlin in mid-April ... on 15 April he writes in his diary: "The quartet is finished. Yes—my heart bleeds—why this sense of pain in life ... That I even exist! My God! Four pairs of children's eyes and a wife's stare at me, virtually a pauper ... At least I've composed well".

Performances



 * Uusi Suometar review (E. K. = Evert Katila)
 * Helsingin Sanomat review (W. = ?)
 * Hufvudstadsbladet review (Bis = Karl Fredrik Wasenius)
 * Sibelius' nya stråkkvartett "Voces intimae" bildade programmets slutnummer. Såsom af rubriken framgår ställer musiken stora pretentioner på samspelet, ett sammangående af stämmorna, en konformitet af uttryck inom en rik skala af ömtåilga nyanser, betoningar, fraser. Redan den yttre ensemblen fordrar mycket af de exekverande. Om också ej allt kom fram som sig bort, måste dock sägas, att institutets stråkkvartett i hufvudsak presterade ett godt samspel. Är musiken svår att utföra så är den ej mindre svår att förstå. Då man slår upp partituret, frapperas man af den äkta kvartettstilen. Men man duperas betydligt af denna klara stämföring. Den utförda kompositionen företer nämligen en inbundenhet till innehåll som icke kan dechiffreras vid ett första åhörande. Detta gäller i all synnerhet de tvä första satserna. Man får till en början nöjas med att beundra det kontrapunktiska arbetet, bakom hvars mästerliga och fina detaljer döljer sig en värid af tankar och ingifvelser, som blott glimtvis låta oss ana musikens innebörd. I Adagiot trädde dock en ohöljdt skön värld åhöraren till möte. Äfven det följande Allegrettot och slutallegrot fjättrade uppmärksamheten starkt, men man stod i alla fall inför en musik, som icke bjuder ut sig, utan hvars geniala innebörd man endast långsamt skall kunna fullt förstå och uppskatta. Man hoppas lifligt att få återhöra kvartetten äfven här hemma, så att et kontinenten genom Böhmiska kvartetten hinner oss i förväg i bekantskap med detta underbara verk af vår främste mästare, som också på kammarmisikens område går sin egen stora kungsväg.
 * Sibelius' new string quartet "Voces intimae" formed the final number of the program. As the title suggests, the music places great demands on the interplay, a coherence of the voices, a conformity of expression within a rich scale of tender nuances, emphases, phrases. Even the external ensemble demands a lot from the performers. Even if not everything came out as it should, it must be said, however, that the institute's string quartet mainly performed a good interplay. If the music is difficult to perform, it is no less difficult to understand. When you open the score, you are struck by the genuine quartet style. But one is significantly duped by this clear intonation. Namely, the performed composition conveys an attachment to content that cannot be deciphered on a first hearing. This applies in particular to the first two sentences. At first, one has to be content with admiring the contrapuntal work, behind whose masterly and fine details hide a wealth of thoughts and inspirations, which only give us a glimpse of the meaning of the music. In Adagiot, however, the listener was met by an unmasked, beautiful world. The following Allegretto and final Allegro also held the attention strongly, but in any case, one was faced with music that does not offer itself, but whose genius meaning one can only slowly fully understand and appreciate. It is fervently hoped to be able to hear the quartet again here at home, so that through the Bohemian Quartet, the continent can get to know this wonderful work of our foremost master in advance, which also in the field of chamber music follows his own great royal path.


 * Nya Pressen review (A. S. = ?)

Structure
The D minor quartet is in five movements, with the first proceeding immediately into the second. The third movement—the work's slow, emotional anchor—is the longest in duration. The movements are as follows: 1. Andante—Allegro molto moderato—

2. Vivace

3. Adagio di molto

4. Allegretto (ma pesante)

5. Allegro

Robert Lienau published the quartet in 1909.

Analysis
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Discography
The sortable table below lists most, although perhaps not all, commercially available recordings of the String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae: