Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30, is a chamber-music composition by the Romanian composer

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, 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 Dorohoi () is a municipiu, city in Botoșani County, Romania, on the right bank of the river Jijia, which broadens into a lake on the north. History Dorohoi used to be a market for the timber and farm produce of the north Moldavian highlands; m ...

, and the score was completed on 4 May 1944, at the composer's villa

Luminiș The Luminiș Villa, George Enescu Memorial House is located in the Cumpătu district, the only suburb of Sinaia, Romania. The villa is situated on the right bank of Prahova River. It was owned by the Romanian composer and musician George Enesc ...

, near

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named aft ...

, 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. The first performance of the work was given at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

in Washington, DC, by the Albeneri Trio (

Alexander Schneider Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest String Quartet. Early li ...

, violin; Benar Heifetz, viola;

Erich Itor Kahn Erich Itor Kahn (23 July 1905 - 5 March 1956) was a German composer of Jewish descent, who emigrated to the United States during the years of National Socialism. Biography He was born in Rimbach in the Odenwald, the son of Leopold Kahn, a mathema ...

, 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 Maurice Edgard Vieux (14 April 1884 in Savy-Berlette near Valenciennes – 28 April 1951 in Paris) was a French people, French viola, violist whose teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris plays a key role in the history of the viola in France. Vieu ...

, viola, Charles Bartsch, cello, with the composer at the piano, on 29 October, but almost certainly in 1948 rather than 1947.

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 Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...

; 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.

Discography

* George Enescu: Cvartet nr. 2 pentru pian, vioară, violă și violoncel, in re minor, op. 30.

Valentin Gheorghiu Valentin Gheorghiu (; born 21 March 1928) is a Romanian classical pianist and composer. Biography Gheorghiu was born in Galaţi, Romania in 1928. He was first a pupil of Constanța Erbiceanu at the Bucharest Academy of Music and then of Lazar ...

(piano), Ștefan Gheorghiu (violin), Valeriu Pitulac (viola), Aurel Niculescu (cello). LP recording, 1 disc: analogue, 33⅓ rpm, stereo., 12 in. Electrecord ST-ECE 01858. Romania: Electrecord, 977? * George Enescu: Cvartet de coarde nr. 2 în sol major, op. 22, nr. 2; Cvartet nr. 2 pentru pian, vioară, violă, și violoncel în re minor, op. 30. Yvonne Piedemonte-Prelipcean (piano), members of the "Voces" String Quartet (Bujor Prelipcean, violin; Gheorghe Haag, viola; Dan Prelipcean, cello). Recorded in 1981. LP recording, 1 disc: analogue, 33⅓ rpm, stereo, 12 in. Electrecord ST ECE 01854. Romania: Electrecord, 1981. ** Op. 30 from this recording reissued, coupled with Piano Quartet No. 1 played by the same forces (with Anton Diaconu, violin, in place of Bujor Prelipcean), CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. Olympia OCD 412. Olympia Explorer Series. London: Olympia, 1991. * Enescu: Piano Quintet, Op. 29; Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 30. The Solomon Ensemble (Dominic Saunders, piano; Anne Solomon, violin; Ralf Ehlers, viola; Rebecca Gilliver, cello; and in Op. 29, Andrew Roberts, violin). Recorded Potton Hall, Suffolk, England, Sept. 22–24, 2001. CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. Naxos 8.557159. .l. HNH International, 2003. * George Enescu: Impressions from Childhood, Op. 28 (arr. for violin and orchestra by Theodor Grigoriu); Chamber Symphony, Op. 33; Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 30, in D minor. Sherban Lupu (violin), Sinfonia da Camera,

Ian Hobson Ian Hobson is an English pianist, conductor and teacher, and is a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and at Florida State University. His pianistic repertoire spans the baroque to the contemporary, but he specialises in th ...

, cond. (Opp. 28 and 33); Ian Hobson (piano), Sherban Lupu (violin), Csaba Erdélyi (viola), Mirel Iancovici (cello) (Op. 30). CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. TROY 1100. Albany: Albany Records, 2009. * George Enescu: The Piano Quartets. Tammuz Piano Quartet (Oliver Triendl, piano; Daniel Goede, violin; Lars Anders Tomter, viola;

Gustav Rivinius Gustav Rivinius (born in 1965 in Saarland) is a German cellist and professor for cello at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. Life Rivinius began his cello studies at the age of six with Hermann Dirr in Munich. Later he studied in Saarbrücken for s ...

, cello). Recorded BR München, Studio 2, 27–28 March 2009 (Quartet No. 1), 24–25 November 20078 (Quartet No. 2). CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. CPO 777 506-2. Georgsmarienhütte: CPO, 2010. * Enescu: Piano Quartets Nos. 1 and 2. Schubert Ensemble (William Howard, piano; Simon Blendis, violin; Douglas Paterson, viola; Jane Salmon, cello). Recorded Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, England, 6–7 December 2010 (Quartet No. 1), 12–13 February 2011 (Quartet No. 2). CD recording, 1 disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo CHAN 10672. Colchester, Essex, England: Chandos, 2011.

References

Cited sources

* * * {{Authority control Compositions by George Enescu Enescu 2 1944 compositions Compositions in D minor