Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters” (1928) (26:01) 1 I. Andante (6:03) 2 II. Adagio (6:05) 3 III. Moderato (5:48) 4 IV. Allegro (8:27) Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953): String Quartet (1931) (11:53) 5 I. Rubato assai (3:26) 6 II. Leggiero (2:03) 7 III. Andante (4:17) 8 IV. Allegro possibile (2:06) Cedille Records is a trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation devoted to promot- Paul Hindemith (1895–1963): String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22 (1922) (26:24) ing the finest musicians and ensembles in the Chicago area. The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation’s activities are sup- 9 ported in part by contributions and grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies including I. Fugato. Sehr langsame Viertel (6:06) the Alphawood Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, NIB Foundation, Negaunee Foundation, bk Sage Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (CityArts III Grant), and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. II. Schnelle Achtel. Sehr energisch (5:37) Contributions to The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation may be made at www.cedillerecords.org or by calling 773-989-2515. bl III. Ruhige Viertel. Stets fließend (8:03) bm IV. Mäßig schnelle Viertel (1:43) Producer & Engineer Judith Sherman bn V. Rondo. Gemächlich und mit Grazie (4:48) Assistant Engineer & Digital Editing Bill Maylone Design Melanie Germond 24 Photos of the Pacifica Quartet Anthony Parmelee TT: (64:38) Recorded September 2-4, 2005 (Hindemith & Crawford Seeger); January 4 & 5, 2006 (Janáček), in the Foelinger Great Hall, Krannert Pacifica Quartet Center, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Microphones Sonodor, Neumann KM 130 Publishers String Quartet No. 2 by Leoš Janáček ©1928 Editio Bärenreiter Praha (H 4355); String Quartet by Ruth Crawford Seeger ©1941 Theodore Presser Co.; String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22 by Paul Hindemith ©1923 Schott Music International DECLARATIONS CDR 90000 092 P&C 2006 Cedille Records, trademark of The Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. All Rights Reserved Music Between the Wars Janáček’s style fits into no special school or inspired by Beethoven’s music, relating the trend; it remains uniquely his own, a blend tale of a disastrous marriage. The second inspired by many influences: his study of quartet, dating from 1928, was originally sub- DECLARATIONS Moravian folk melodies and speech patterns; titled “Love Letters,” but the composer pulled Music Between the Wars his interest in other Eastern European cul- back from this too-revealing appellation in Notes by Andrea Lamoreaux tural heritages, especially those of Russia; and favor of “Intimate Letters.” It is a work directly the confluence of Romantic and modernist addressed to Kamila, reflecting “the anguish trends that characterized the early 20th cen- that I feel about you” (as he wrote to her). The The life of the oldest, earliest composer young old man from Brno” (as one biogra- tury. The sound world of his second quartet whole piece is one long instrumental love on this CD may be briefly summarized as pher put it) wrote, in his sixties and seventies, is sharply cut off from its companions on this song. Its frequent shifts of mood reflect the decades of obscurity in a backwater of the four more major operas (Katya Kabanova, CD. Hindemith and Crawford Seeger used the often-sudden changes of feeling and attitude Austro-Hungarian Empire followed by a dra- The Makropoulos Affair, The Cunning Little ancient genre of the string quartet to speak that are experienced in the course of a love matic reversal toward fame and fortune in a Vixen, and From the House of the Dead), plus new musical languages. Janáček, despite the affair. Even more evocative of an intimate newly-established independent nation. Born orchestral works, two string quartets, and the originality of his style, was rooted in the tradi- relationship are the almost constant shifts in a remote Moravian village in 1854, Leoš Glagolitic Mass. tions of late Romanticism, and the lushness of of tempo, sometimes covering just a few Janáček was trained as both a musician and his themes and their harmonization recall the measures at a time before another change of a teacher, and spent most of his first 60 years The inspiraton for this outburst of creativ- larger-scale symphonic works of Mahler and pace ensues. These tempo changes reflect the — more than a lifetime, for some people ity came from more than his new-found Richard Strauss — neither of them any kind vicissitudes of a loving but risky relationship: — in the provincial capital of Brno, where he fame; it was spurred greatly by his love for a of specialist in chamber music, but compos- advance and retreat, eagerness and regret. was an organist, choir director, teacher, and woman 38 years his junior. Kamila Stösslová, ers who spoke with a personal voice in rich folk-music researcher as well as composer. the great love of his life, was the wife of a harmonies that express very private, very In one of his many letters to his love, Janáček His principal interest was in opera, but he Bohemian merchant. She never left her hus- inward emotions in an outwardly expan- detailed specific themes for each of the quar- also wrote symphonic and chamber works, band; Janáček never left his wife. Their affair sive way that seeks the universal. A younger tet’s four movements: their first meeting, a plus a great many choral pieces. His oper- was apparently conducted largely through Janáček contemporary, Alban Berg, though summer sojourn at a spa, a vision “resembling atic efforts were little appreciated. His life was correspondence, but its emotional intensity part of the atonal Schoenbergian school, your image,” and finally, “a fear for you . that one of continuity, routine, duty, frustration, is witnessed by many of the composer’s late used chamber music in much the same way: eventually sounds not as fear, but as longing and surely more than a little boredom. And works, the string quartets in particular. The to express deep, often secret, feelings. and fulfillment.” then, in 1916, in the midst of a world war, the inspiration of this love was so great that in Prague National Opera agreed to produce his the last year of his life, Janáček could declare: Janáček’s first string quartet, from 1923, was A Baroque predecessor of our modern viola is opera Jenufa; this was the beginning of his “Life is young! It’s spring! I am not afraid to subtitled “Kreutzer Sonata”: not a reference the even more mellow-toned viola d’amore, national and international renown, and of his live, to open my eyes, for life is beautiful.” to Beethoven’s work with this subtitle, but or Love Viola; Janáček originally thought of renewed zest for life and art. This “eternally to a short story by Russia’s Leo Tolstoy, partly employing this archaic instrument, but he 4 5 eventually decided against it. He asks the time signature is 2/4, signifying two beats He became her final mentor, and her hus- gression of the motives and the need for modern viola player to play “sul ponticello,” to each bar, but this pace is varied with the band in 1932. Ruth Crawford Seeger was the expressionstic emphasis dictates. Dissonant near the instrument’s bridge, on numerous inclusion of extended triplet passages (three stepmother of Pete Seeger and the mother of intervals such as dimished sevenths and aug- occasions; this adds an astringency to the notes to a group). The opening Allegro slows Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger, all of whom mented ninths abound, in vertical collision sound that heightens the tension of the emo- down to Andante and evolves into a central were leaders in the American folk-music and in linear leaps. The motive introduced tions being expressed. Adagio that goes from triple piano (very, revival of the mid-20th century. at the start by the first violin is labeled Solo, very soft) to triple forte. To conclude, Janáček and that labeling continues as the motive is The entire quartet is dominated and informed returns to Tempo I and a varied statement of Along the way, Crawford Seeger became the passed from part to part. The score indicates by the motto theme heard at the very begin- the movement’s opening motives, followed first woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship that this solo line “must be heard continu- ning. It returns in many permutated forms. by a softly whispering passage that gives for study in Europe. She also won recognition ing throughout the movement”; indeed it It is treated in rondo fashion in the open- way to a frenetic rush to the end punctuated as a composer of formidable and original tal- does, and can be heard as such, but it’s often ing movement, which begins at a moderate with an exclamation point by three sharply- ent, one whose gender called forth not con- surrounded by much figuration and com- Andante pace that picks up into a more accented concluding chords. descension but admiration from male artists. mentary. Dynamic contrasts are extreme and ardent Allegro. The heartfelt second move- Her career as a whole shows the importance frequently changing, adding to the sense of ment begins at an Adagio pace, very slow, In her too-brief lifetime, 1901 to 1953, Ruth of both the old and the new in the world frenzied expression and intensity. but is interspersed with agitated Vivace pas- Crawford Seeger made many different dec- of music: the old represented by folk-music sages; here the motto becomes the basis for larations as an artist and as a person.