String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13 (1955)

Description:

Quartet No. 2 for strings, Opus 13, can essentially be said to be entirely contained within a theme that spans no more than three musical bars. This theme – both the skeleton and heart of the work – is introduced at the beginning, played unaccompanied by the violin and cello, followed by a conclusion involving the other instruments.

As a musical form, this Quartet rarely deviates from the classical models of the genre. The first movement, agitated and violent though written in sonata form, is nothing but a free variation where the initial theme gives life and stature to all the other themes: secondary and principal. A brief Minuet follows, which, serving as both a contrast and a rest, unfolds simply and, after the customary trio, concludes with the same melody with which it began.

The Largo is a strict and densely written passacaglia. A bass ostinato, heard a total of 17 times and based on the notes of the initial theme, serves as the foundation upon which all the musical ideas of this movement are built; primarily a second melody, somewhat like a counter-subject, which often accompanies the bass and towards the end interrupts the passacaglia to be heard, along with its variation, in the form of a canon presented by the instruments in octaves divided between them in pairs. The work concludes with a lively and cheerful Finale.

The Second Quartet was completed in Athens in January 1955 and is dedicated to the members of the Hellenic Quartet, who cherished it and are now presenting it in its premiere performance.

-This is a near-verbatim translation of Sicilianos’s Greek text.