Ralph Vaughan Williams: String Quartet in G Minor: String Quartet: Parts

New Edition Score-In its sublime beauty and inspired writing for strings Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis remains one of Ralph Vaughan Williams' greatest works and his first indisputable masterpiece.This newedition contains practical revisions and editorial corrections using the composer's autograph manuscript and the first published edition as sources.

Quartet in C Minor is in four movements with a total duration of about 25 minutes. The opening Allegro is Dvorák-ish in its lyricism though there is a darker more brooding atmosphere towards the close. It is tempting to detect a hint of folk-song in the theme of the Andantino played by the Viola but that may be stretching hindsight too far. The movement has a wistful melancholy that carries over into the following Intermezzo a song-like episode containing some of the most virtuosic writing in the work. The last movement is a theme and six variations with a fugal ending. The theme is ballad-like with a suggestion of 18th-century elegance. Modality creeps into thesecond Adagio variation and there is rhythmic exhilaration in the succeeding Presto. What can be admired in this attractive quartet is its conciseness. This String Quartet was his first major composition of any kind.

'Quartet In C Minor' is in four movements with a total duration of about 25 minutes. The opening Allegro is similar in style to Dvorak in its lyricism though there is a darker more brooding atmosphere towards the close. It is tempting to detect a hint of folk-song in the theme of the Andantino played by the viola but that may be stretching hindsight too far. The movement has a wistful melancholy that carries over into the following Intermezzo a song-like episode containing some of the most virtuosic writing in the work. The last movement is a theme and six variations with a fugal ending. The theme is ballad-like with a suggestion of 18th-century elegance. Modalitycreeps into the second Adagio variation and there is rhythmic exhilaration in the succeeding Presto. What can be admired in this attractive quartet is its conciseness. This String Quartet was his first major composition of any kind.