String Quartet in E-flat major (Sibelius)

The String Quartet in E-flat major, JS 184, is a four-movement chamber piece for two violins, viola, and cello[3] written in June 1885 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is the first of Sibelius's four string quartets. The quartet appears in the same sketchbook as two other brief pieces for string quartet: first, the Molto moderato – Scherzo (JS 134), which is Sibelius's earliest piece in the genre; and second, a fragmentary [Scherzo] in B minor (without catalogue marking; completed by Kalevi Aho).[4]

String Quartet in E-flat major
by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1885–1888)
CatalogueJS 184
Composed1885 (1885)
PublisherFazer [fi] (1991)[1]
Duration19 mins.[2]
Movements4

Structure

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The E-flat major quartet is in four movements, as follows:

  1. Allegro
  2. Andante molto
  3. Scherzo. Allegretto
  4. Vivace

The piece was published posthumously in 1991 by Fazer Music [fi].[1]

Discography

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The Sibelius Academy Quartet made the world premiere studio recording of the E-flat major quartet for Finlandia in 1988.[1] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Quartet Violin I Violin II Viola Cello Runtime[a] Rec.[b] Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Sibelius Academy Seppo Tukiainen [fi] Erkki Kantola [fi] Veikko Kosonen Arto Noras 18:48 1988 Järvenpää Hall [fi] Finlandia
2 Tempera [fi] Laura Vikman Silva Koskela Tiila Kangas Ulla Lampela 17:41 2004 Länna Church, Uppland [sv] BIS

Notes, references, and sources

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Notes
  1. ^ All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
  2. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  3. ^ Sibelius Academy–Finlandia (4509–95851–2) 1992
  4. ^ Tempera–BIS (CD–1376) 2005
References
  1. ^ a b c Dahlström 2003, p. 617.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 616.
  3. ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 616–617.
  4. ^ Barnett 2007, pp. 11–12.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.