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The Kapralova Society Journal Spring 2010 Volume 8, Issue 1 The Kapralova Society Journal Spring 2010 A Journal of Women in Music Kaprálová’s String Quartet, op. 8 Marta Blalock Vítězslava Kaprálová was in her Analysis of opus 8 early twenties when she composed her only string quartet. She began working The quartet, completed in 1936, is on the score in the summer of 1935, fol- written in the traditional fast-slow-fast lowing her graduation from the Brno scheme, using the formal structures of so- Conservatory, and finished it in March nata-form (Con brio), rounded binary 1936, during the first year of her studies (Lento), and theme with variations under Vítězslav Novák at the Prague (Allegro con variazioni). The key centers Conservatory.1 She met the challenge of each movement form a large-scale V– confidently, ultimately producing a work iii–I progression in B-flat major. As al- of strong character and assured craft. Al- ready mentioned, Kaprálová’s melodic though the quartet’s lyrical style is some- and rhythmic style draws much inspiration times compared to the music of Janáček,2 from folk music, and her harmonic lan- there are more immediate influences that guage is rich with bitonality, extended ter- Special points of interest: shaped this work. The quartet’s dance- tiary harmonies, deceptive resolutions, like rhythms, speech motives, metric am- modal harmonies, and referential collec- biguities, modal harmonies, and irregular tions such as the whole-tone and chro- String Quartet of phrase structures suggest the Moravian matic scales. Chords containing unpre- Vítězslava Kaprálová folk music roots of Kaprálová’s music. pared and unresolved dissonances also The music of her father, Václav Kaprál, pose as “stable” harmonies. The use of also appears to have had an impact, at unifying motivic elements, such as turn least by her own admission.3 Further- figures and tritones, add to the coherence more, the quartet’s impressionistic har- of the work. monies and extended chords suggest the The quartet opens with an arrest- influence of French composers, also evi- ing, dense, and tonally ambiguous six- dent in the music of Kaprál. measure introduction Con Brio, elements Kaprálová’s earlier works with of which reappear throughout the move- Inside this issue: strings include Legenda (Legend) op. ment, mainly in the transitional passages. Blalock: Kaprálová’s String Quartet 1 3/1, Burlesque op. 3/2 [vn, pno] (1932), It consists of two gestures, each contain- and Leden (January) [vx, fl, 2vn, vc, ing a complex of motives which fore- pno] (1933). Although Kaprálová’s com- shadow important thematic and harmonic positional development progressed since aspects of the movement. The exposition New publications and CD releases 8, 10-12 she had written these works, both com- establishes F major as a key center, and positions of op. 3 already contain the sty- develops the rhythmic motive from the in- listic elements later fully explored in the troduction (Ex. 1a). quartet (the expressiveness of Legenda The statement of the first theme al- and the rhythmic vitality of Burlesque). ready demonstrates many of the com- It is the song Leden, however, that poser’s techniques: driving rhythms, folk- clearly foreshadows the directions taken like accompanimental chords, harmonies in the String Quartet, especially the mel- with unprepared, unresolved dissonances. ancholy character of the quartet’s second The lower strings imitate common folk movement. rhythmic accompaniments of emphasized Page 2 The Kapralova Society Journal Vítězslava Kaprálová off-beats, as seen in an excerpt from one of Janáček’s ar- then combined to form a unifying statement harmonizing rangements of Moravian Folk song (Ex. 1b). The accom- the dominant ninth chord of F major. panimental rhythm in m. 5 is derived from that of m. 3, The first theme is restated as in the exposition but but with every second bass note omitted. Kaprálová now concludes with a startling tritone double stop in the adopts this pattern and manipulates it for the triple meter cello. In the Meno mosso section which follows, a con- and further emphasizes the off-beats in the melody. tinuous turn-figure hemiola accompanies both the third Whole-tone collections serving as “neighboring harmo- and second themes (Ex. 4a). Kaprálová later used these nies” to dominant ninth chords can be seen as the quartet’s two themes as an inspiration for her 1939 violin and pi- theme progresses. ano composition Elegy. The third theme is modified by Before the slower and more lyrical second theme rhythmic and intervallic diminution in Elegy’s opening (Cantabile) is realized, Kaprálová inserts a highly devel- statement (Ex. 4b). A portion of the quartet’s second opmental section with fragmented passages from all three theme (Ex. 5a) is quoted and transposed in Elegy (Ex. themes interrupting each other. Both here and later in the 5b). Kaprálová transfers the quartet’s expressive depth second theme itself, prominent whole-tone harmonies al- into Elegy and demonstrates her gift for further thematic ternate with chromatic transitional passages. Also, the har- development. The quartet’s coda outlines an ii–V–I pro- monization of the second theme proper recalls the parallel gression in F major. Dissonant scales and trills from the sixths of folk singing. Many of the second theme’s fea- introduction are combined here with the first theme, and a tures are reminiscent of the first movement of Ravel’s fragmented second theme returns. Following an introduc- string quartet. The melodic contour of the theme (mm. 41- tion-like ensemble gesture, the movement ends conclu- 42, Ex. 2a) resembles that of Ravel’s in the first move- sively in F major. ment of his string quartet (Ex. 2b). Texturally, The central movement marked Lento begins with Kaprálová’s pedal-tone trill in the viola (which later be- a pensive and captivating solo cello theme in D minor comes a tremolo) and cello pizzicato gesture recall similar (Ex. 6a). Upper strings enter with serene harmonics of a accompaniments in Ravel’s second theme (Ex. 2c). descending whole-tone line as the theme unfolds. The Ravel's technique of moving among referential sonorities movement’s melodic, rhythmic and harmonic features are in discrete steps is also echoed here (moving from diatonic strongly evocative of the 1933 song Leden, namely with to whole-tone, or moving between octatonic scales in the its somber expansive melody with climaxing triplet pas- first movement). sages and impressionistic harmonies. Some motivic ideas As in Kaprálová's second theme, a combination of already introduced in Leden are explored here as well. On referential collections with tonally based harmony can be the top of page eleven in the quartet’s autograph, where found in the first movement. Kaprálová’s exposition con- the second movement begins, Kaprálová jotted down a cludes with a whimsical statement of the staccato third brief sketch of a musical idea (Ex. 6b). This motive is theme (Vivace), derived from the non-equivalent melodic also found in the cello part in Leden (Ex. 6c) and the inversion of the second theme (Ex. 3a). The playful stac- sketch can be seen as an intermediate step to deriving a cato character is supported by the accompanying four-note very similar motive in the cello’s part in the quartet (Ex. turn-figure. Later in the theme, a hemiola built on the 6a, mm. 10-12). Even the quartet’s falling triplet idea four-note turn-figure gives the feeling of a duple meter, a (Ex. 6a, mm. 13-16) can be traced back to Leden, where technique echoing the famous Czech dance furiant, where it is heard in the flute part (Ex. 6d). Kaprálová’s capacity a similar hemiola obscures the triple meter of the gro- for affective musical language proves to be highly devel- tesque character dance (Ex. 3b). oped in both compositions, creating a sensibly attuned The development section moves rapidly through musical character. all three themes, which are subjected to diminution, orna- The quartet’s harmonic language sustains its am- mentation and rhythmic modification. The intervalically biguity and richness in modulation, and the phrasing extended turn-figures, along with fragments of the first gains more irregularity and alteration. The conclusion of and third themes, are given a subsidiary role to the now the theme accelerates into a lively Poco vivo section in D more prominent second theme. The central key areas of B minor, creating a contrasting subsidiary thematic idea major and F major (themselves a tritone apart) remain marked with an augmented triad and a distinctive dotted highly obscured with chromatic, whole-tone, and dimin- rhythm motive (Ex. 7a). This trochaic dotted rhythm later ished sonorities. In the concluding section of the develop- becomes a vital feature of the accompaniment to the first ment, themes are increasingly more fragmented and re- theme, enriching its otherwise somber character with the duced into their elemental motivic constituents, which are lively short-long speech motive, idiosyncratic to the Page 3 The Kapralova Society Journal String Quartet, op. 8 rhythmic patterns of the Czech language. Most words in the folk-like accompaniment in the first movement’s ex- Czech have a strong stress on the first syllable which is position. The second variation (Cantabile) returns to the then followed by a weaker and often longer syllable. Folk theme with the initial rhythm in its pure form but with rhythms and melodies often follow this natural declama- modified melodic contour and a different key of D-flat tion (Ex. 7b) and the short-long speech pattern becomes a major (Ex. 11). The voicing is reminiscent of the instru- significant part of the thematic material of highbrow Czech mentation of characteristic folk dances and songs, where composers.
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