String Quartet No.2 in D major (18881)

As a competent cellist and an enthusiastic participant in chamber music (when he had the time), Alexander Borodin certainly knew what was expected of the conventional string quartet. His First String Quartet in A major, though highly original in places and by no means un-Russian, is a    conscious tribute to Beethoven and a perhaps not so conscious expression of his admiration for Mendelssohn. The Second String Quartet in D major, on the other hand, seems for the most part to represent a rejection of classical values. It escapes from the contrapuntal activity so conscientiously and so effectively sustained in the First String Quartet and it indulges instead in the most voluptuous colouring available to the four instruments. Written in 1881, two years after the completion of the Quartet in A major and dedicated to the composer’s wife on the 20th anniversary of their engagement, it is a celebration of sensuous melody and uninhibitedly spontaneous harmony.

The delightfully supple first theme of the opening Allegro moderato, introduced on the A-string of the cello, is succeeded by an even more appealing second subject, its exotically shaped line drawn by first violin over a simple pizzicato accompaniment. Since neither of these melodies is particularly useful for development Borodin offers two more business-like themes, one of them in an animato tempo. He cannot exclude his main themes for very long, however, even in the development section. By the end of the movement, after an inspired harmonic diversion has brought about the recapitulation of the second subject in a most unlikely tonality, even the animato theme is persuaded to relax into quiescence.

The two middle movement are similarly amorous in conception. The Scherzo begins briskly enough but its major attraction is its waltz tune gliding at a slower tempo through the rising and falling fourths which a are such a prominent thematic feature of the work. As for the Notturno, it is based on one of the most beautiful of all Borodin’s exotic melodies. Introduced by his own instrument high on the A-string and echoed two octaves higher by first violin over a murmuring viola, it inspires a passionate almost operatic response as a second subject. On its recapitulation the main theme is presented in two canonic duets, the second of them for the two violins over breathless tremolandos on the viola and a pizzicato bass line.

If the canonic writing in the Notturno is more simulated than real, the contrapuntal ingenuity in the first subject of the Finale is both genuine and inspired. Beginning with a question, rather like that at the equivalent point in Beethoven’s Op.135, this is Borodin’s return to classical values – except that, not surprisingly in this context, the rippling chromatic line of the shapely second subject occupies at least as much of the composer’s attention as the more intellectual material. As Ravel did not fail to observe when he wrote his String Quartet in F twenty years later, it is a very satisfactory compromise.

Gerald Larner©2002

As a competent cellist and an enthusiastic participant in chamber music – when he could take the time off his day job as a scientist – Alexander Borodin certainly knew what was expected of the conventional string quartet. His First String Quartet in A major, though highly original in places and by no means un-Russian, is a    conscious tribute to Beethoven and a perhaps not so conscious expression of his admiration for Mendelssohn. The Second String Quartet in D major, on the other hand, seems for the most part to represent a rejection of classical values. It escapes from the contrapuntal activity so conscientiously and so effectively sustained in the First String Quartet and it indulges instead in the most voluptuous colouring available to the four instruments. Written in 1881, two years after the completion of the Quartet in A major and dedicated to the composer’s wife Ekaterina on the 20th anniversary of their engagement, it is a celebration of sensuous melody and uninhibitedly spontaneous harmony.

The composer’s assertion that the first movement was inspired by a memory of a night-time rendezvous with Ekaterina is easy to believe. The delightfully supple first theme, introduced on the A-string of the cello, is succeeded by an even more appealing second subject, its exotically shaped line drawn by first violin over a simple pizzicato accompaniment. Since neither of these melodies is particularly useful for development Borodin offers a pair of more business-like themes, one of them in an animato tempo. He cannot exclude his main themes for very long, however, even in the development section. By the end of the movement, after a surprising harmonic diversion has deflected the second subject into a most unlikely key area on the way to its official recapitulation, even the animato theme is persuaded to relax into quiescence.

The two middle movement are similarly amorous in conception. The Scherzo begins briskly enough but its major attraction is its waltz tune gliding at a slower tempo through the rising and falling fourths which a are such a prominent thematic feature of the work. As for the Notturno – described by the composer as a love duet – it is based on one of the most beautiful of all Borodin’s exotic melodies. Introduced by his own instrument high on the A-string and echoed two octaves higher by first violin over a murmuring viola, it inspires a passionate almost operatic response as a second subject. On its recapitulation the main theme is presented in two canonic duets, the second of them for the two violins over breathless tremolandos on the viola and a pizzicato bass line.

If the canonic writing in the Notturno is more simulated than real, the contrapuntal ingenuity displayed by the Finale is both genuine and highly accomplished. Beginning with an Andante question anticipating the Vivace main theme, this is Borodin’s return to classical values. Even so, in a movement recalling an early-morning sunrise, the rippling chromatic line of the shapely second subject occupies at least as much of the composer’s attention as the more intellectual material. As Ravel did not fail to observe when he wrote his String Quartet in F twenty years later, it is a very satisfactory compromise.