JAN VAN DER GUCHT (tenor)
THE STRATTON STRING
QUARTET: George Stratton (violin) ; Carl Taylor (violin) ; Watson Forbes (viola) ; John Moore (violoncello)
The key of C minor seems to have appealed to Brahms whenever he wanted to express emotions of a.tragic character. In the C minor String Quartet, though still adhering to the classical design of sonata form, Brahms's treatment is much fuller and freer, and, with the exception of the third movement, the thematic material is closely related throughout, since it is for the most part derived from the first theme of the first movement. This initial theme, like so many of Brahms's tunes, is based on the notes of the common chord (C minor). Surging upwards on the first violin, it immediately defines the tense and stormy mood of the whole movement.
The second movement is in the form of a deeply expressive ' Romance ', with a quiet middle section of unsurpassed poignancy and sonorous beauty. The music here is particularly striking for its richness of colouring and originality of rhythm. The third movement is a rather slow and flowing Scherzo, full of fancy and quaint simplicity, especially in the charm inc; trio section. The mood of the first movement more or less dominates the Finale, the chief theme of which will be recognised as a peculiar amalgam of the initial theme of the first movement and that of the ' Romance '.
This Quartet is one of the few works in which Brahms exploits the so-called cyclic form-' that permeation of a whole work by one theme makes of it a true cycle '.