String Quartet in G minor, Op.27

A great success in its day, Grieg’s Quartet in G minor has been given a hard time since then by commentators who have found all kinds of faults in it. While it is true that it is not exactly rich in counterpoint, it is abundant in melodic interest, much of it most effectively coloured, and it is more thoroughly integrated in structure than its critics have allowed. One significant structural factor is that it features a “motto” theme from Grieg’s Ibsen setting Spillemaend (Fiddler) Op.25 No.1 the first line of which (“My thoughts were of her”) is heard at the very beginning of the Poco andante introduction to the work. The lyrical second subject of the of the first movement is a harmonically sweetened major-key version of the same theme: the ethereal recall of that theme towards the end of the movement is just one example of inspired string-quartet scoring. Performing its due function, the “motto” makes more or less prominent reappearances in most other movements – in the allegro agitato theme that alternates with the highly melodious andantino of the Romanza, in the robust main theme of the Intermezzo, in the Lento introduction to the Finale, in the cheerful dance tune in the middle section of the closing presto al saltarello and in the triumphant G-major triumph at the climax of the work, just before the short coda.

Grieg’s String Quartet in G minor, the only one he actually completed, was first performed by the Heckmann Quartet in Cologne in 1878. A great success in its day - not least with Franz Liszt, who liked it as much as he had liked the Piano Concerto in A minor - it has been given a hard time since then by commentators who have found fault with its form, its material and its scoring. While it is true that it is not exactly rich in counterpoint, it is by no means short of melodic interest, much of it most effectively coloured, and it is more thoroughly integrated in structure than its critics have allowed.

It has long been known that it features a “motto” theme from Grieg’s Ibsen setting Spillemaend (Fiddler), Op.25, No.1, the first line of which (“My thoughts were of her”) is heard at the very beginning of the Poco andante introduction to the work. It is clear too that the lyrical second subject of the of the first movement - you can’t miss it, since the agitato activity associated with the first subject just stops to make way for it - is a harmonically sweetened major-key version of the same theme. The ethereal recall of the second subject towards the end of the movement, on cello against tremolandos on the other instruments, is an inspired example of string-quartet scoring.

Performing its due function, the “motto” makes prominent reappearances in most other movements - as the robust main theme of the Intermezzo, in the Lento introduction to the Finale, and in G-major triumph at the climax of the work, just before the short coda. Its influence is even more extensive than that, however, since it discreetly infiltrates much other material, including the first subject of the first movement, the allegro agitato theme that alternates with the highly melodious andantino of the Romanza, and the cheerful dance tune in the middle section of the closing presto al saltarello. While these subtleties might not be immediately clear to the ear, they are essential to a thematic unity that is fundamental to the work rather than merely thrust upon it.