Piano Quartet No. 2 (Enescu)

Enescu, about the time of composition of the Second Piano Quartet

Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30, is a chamber-music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1943–44.

History

Enescu began work on his Second Piano Quartet in July 1943. The first movement was finished on 27 July in Bucharest, the second movement on 27 August in Dorohoi, and the score was completed on 4 May 1944, at the composer's villa Luminiș, near Sinaia, On 4 May 1944, all during the worst part of the war for Romania. Nevertheless, it contains some of his most tranquil music. The score is dedicated to the memory of his composition teacher, Gabriel Fauré (Firca and Niculescu 1971, 1006–1007; Malcolm 1990, 226).

The first performance of the work was given at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, by the Albeneri Trio (Alexander Schneider, violin; Benar Heifetz, viola; Erich Itor Kahn, piano) with violist Milton Katims, on 31 October 1947, under the auspices of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. A rival contender for the premiere was a French radio broadcast performance by Yvonne Astruc, violin, Maurice Vieux, viola, Charles Bartsch, cello, with the composer at the piano, on 29 October, but almost certainly in 1948 rather than 1947 (Bentoiu 2010, 451–52).

Analysis

The quartet is in three movements:

• Allegretto moderato
• Andante pensieroso ed espressivo
• Con moto moderato – Allegro agitato

The first movement, in D minor, is in sonata-allegro form; the second, slow movement, in E major, is in a three-part song form, with introduction and coda; the finale is an agitated, rapid movement in free sonata form in D minor but ends with a coda in D major. Characteristically for Enescu, the quartet is built cyclically: The opening idea of the first movement generates the thematic substance of the whole quartet. Fragments or cells of this idea are found throughout, often transformed and integrated into the composition of other main themes (Firca and Niculescu 1971, 1007–1008).

References

• Bentoiu, Pascal. 2010. Masterworks of George Enescu: A Detailed Analysis, translated by Lory Wallfisch. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7665-1 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-8108-7690-3 (ebook).
• Firca, Clemansa, and Ștefan Niculescu. 1971. "Sinteze și perspective: Anii celui de-al doilea război mondial (1939–1944)". In George Enescu: Monografie, 2 vols., edited by Mircea Voicana, 925–1016. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
• Malcolm, Noel. 1990. George Enescu: His Life and Music, with a preface by Sir Yehudi Menuhin. London: Toccata Press. ISBN 0-907689-32-9.