The String Quartet

Both Tippett’s and Britten’s second string quartets are among the highlights of British quartet music around the Second World War.

In his Second string quartet, Michael Tippett combines his love for late Beethoven with that for the music of Orpheus Brittanicus, Henry Purcell. The fugue of the Andante of the Second string quartet is clearly a reference to the latter. However, Tippett had already put the theme on paper in early autumn of 1938, during the dark days surrounding the painful signing of the Munich Agreement.

Also in Benjamin Britten’s Second string quartet, in C major, Op. 36, the world of Henry Purcell is heard, especially in the last movement, an extensive, particularly ingenious chaconne. Here Britten demonstrates a sample of his unparalleled mastery. A year later, he demonstrated this mastery again, this time with an orchestral work, the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (variations on a theme of Purcell), which made him well-known to a very broad audience.

Michael Tippett (1905-1998) – String Quartet No. 2 (1942)

1. Allegro grazioso, 2. Andante, 3. Presto, 4. Allegro appassionato

Performed by: Heath Quartet

CD: Wigmore Hall Live

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) – String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 (1945)

1. Allegro calmo, senza rigore, 2. Vivace, 3. Chacony. Sostenuto

Performed by: Brodsky Quartet

CD: Challenge Records