String Quartet in A minor (Sibelius) explained

String Quartet in A minor
Composer:Jean Sibelius
Image Upright:.9
Border:Yes
Catalogue:JS 183
Movements:4
Publisher: (1991)
Duration:28 mins.
Premiere Location:Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland

The String Quartet in A minor, JS 183, is a four-movement chamber piece for two violins, viola, and cello written in 1889 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is the second of Sibelius's four string quartets. The initial finale was the Fugue (JS 85) that Sibelius had written as an academic exercise at the Helsinki Music Institute under the direction of his teacher, Martin Wegelius.

The A minor Quartet received its premiere in Helsinki on 29 May 1889 at the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy); the performers were (violin), Wilhelm Santé (violin), (viola), and Wilhelm Renck (cello).

Structure

The A minor Quartet is in four movements, as follows:

The piece was published posthumously in 1991 by .

Movement I

The first movement begins with an Andante in time before switching to for the Allegro. It has a duration of about nine minutes.

Movement II

The second movement, marked Adagio ma non tanto, is in time; it has a duration of about seven minutes.

Movement III

The third movement, marked Vivace, is in time; it has a duration of about five minutes.

Movement IV

The fourth movement, marked Allegro, is in time; it has a duration of about seven minutes.

Discography

The Sibelius Academy Quartet made the world premiere studio recording of the A minor Quartet for Finlandia in 1985. The sortable table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

scope=colQuartetscope=colViolin Iscope=colViolin IIscope=colViolascope=colCelloscope=colRuntimescope=colscope=colRecording venuescope=colLabelscope=col class="unsortable"
1Sibelius Academy28:221984Convent Church, NaantaliFinlandia
2Sophisticated Ladies35:101989BIS
3Jean Sibelius31:121991
434:202005BIS
5Flinders30:202015Wyselaskie Auditorium
6Leipzig33:392016

Notes, references, and sources