| String Quartet in B-flat major | |
| Composer: | Jean Sibelius |
| Image Upright: | .9 |
| Border: | Yes |
| Opus: | 4 |
| Movements: | 4 |
| Composed: | –1890 |
| Publisher: | (1991) |
| Duration: | 31.5 mins. |
| Premiere Location: | Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland |
The String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 4, is a four-movement chamber piece for two violins, viola, and cello written from the summer of 1889 to September 1890 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is the third of Sibelius's four string quartets. Musicologists have speculated: first, that the Adagio in D minor (JS 12) may have been intended as a slow movement for the Op. 4 quartet; and second, that the Allegretto in B-flat major (without catalogue designation) may be an abandoned sketch.
The B-flat major Quartet received its premiere in Helsinki on 13 October 1890 at the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy); the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen was the first violinist, joined by Wilhelm Santé (violin II), Josef Schwartz (viola), and (cello).
In February 1894, Sibelius arranged Movement III for strings and titled it Presto (also known as Scherzo). This version received its premiere on 17 February 1894 in Turku, with Sibelius conducting the Orchestra of the Turku Musical Society.
The B-flat major Quartet is in four movements, as follows:
The piece was published posthumously in 1991 by .
The first movement, marked Allegro, is in time; it has a duration of about nine minutes.
The second movement, marked Andante molto, is in time; it has a duration of about 7.5 minutes.
The third movement, marked Presto, is in time; it has a duration of about six minutes.
The fourth movement, marked Allegro, is in time; it has a duration of about nine minutes.
The Sibelius Academy Quartet made the world premiere studio recording of the B-flat major Quartet for Finlandia in 1985. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| scope=col | Quartet | scope=col | Violin I | scope=col | Violin II | scope=col | Viola | scope=col | Cello | scope=col | Runtime | scope=col | scope=col | Recording venue | scope=col | Label | scope=col class="unsortable" | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sibelius Academy | 31:28 | 1984 | Convent Church, Naantali | Finlandia | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 29:42 | 2004 | BIS |
The Finnish conductor and the made the world premiere studio recording of Presto in 1985 for Finlandia. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| Conductor | Ensemble | Time | Recording venue | Label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1985 | 6:41 | Finlandia | |||||
| 2 | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | 1987 | 6:41 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS | |||
| 3 | (1) | Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (1) | 1994 | 6:00 | Finlandia | |||
| 4 | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2004 | 6:45 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |||
| 5 | (2) | Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (2) | 2011 | 5:57 | Snellman Hall, Kokkola |
sv:Fabian Dahlström
. Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke. Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works. 2003. Breitkopf & Härtel. Wiesbaden. de. 3-7651-0333-0.