Presents
Ernest Moeran
String Quartet No.2 in E flat Major
Ernest Moeran (1894-1950) was born in Heston near London. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to the remote Norfolk Fen Country. As a child he learned to play the violin and piano. He subsequently enrolled at the Royal College of Music and studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. He fought in World War One and received a received a severe head injury, with shrapnel embedded too close to the brain for removal. He underwent what would now be considered primitive head surgery which involved the fitting of a metal plate into the skull. Unsurprisingly this was to affect him for the rest of his life. After discharge, in 1920 he continued his studies the Royal College, staying there under John Ireland. It was from Ireland that. Moeran was came to be heavily influenced by English folk-song and thus belongs to the lyrical tradition. The influence of the nature and landscapes of Norfolk and Ireland are also often evident in his music.
His String Quartet No.2 in E flat Major was composed shortly after his first quartet during 1922-1923. It is not clear why Moeran never brought it to a publisher. The manuscript was found among the composer’s papers by his widow after his death. The opening movement, Allegro moderato ma ben animato, begins with a first violin theme of pastoral suggestion, then a transitional passage of greater range and excitement, followed by the gentle second subject. The opening phrase of the viola, in the second movement, Lento. Vivace. Allegretto. Andante. Allegro vivace is at first answered strongly by the other instruments. There follows the introduction to a folk song-like theme in the first violin eventually leading to the final section, Vivace. This is opened by the rhythmic repetition of a single note by the muted second violin. A thematic fragment is heard from the muted first violin, imitated by the viola before the unmuted cello proposes a theme, echoed by viola and second violin in turn, in the compound rhythm of the first movement. This is followed by the first violin with its own thematic material. There is a change of key from E minor to E major and a change of pace and rhythm, marked Allegretto, moving, with other changes of tonality, to a muted Andante.
Like his first quartet, this too is another representative of the English revival from the early 20th century. It would certainly make a strong impression if brought to the concert hall but is in no way beyond amateur players.
Parts: $24.95
Parts & Score: $33.95
