Schoenberg - String Quartet No. 3, Opus 30

String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30 (1927) I. Moderato II. Adagio III. Intermezzo (Allegro moderato) IV. Rondo (Molto moderato) New Vienna String Quartet By the mid-1920s, Schoenberg's fame had spread beyond European borders. His Third String Quartet was commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, an American patron of the arts who had created a foundation in her name at the Library of Congress. Schoenberg began the piece in January 1927 and completed it in March. Schoenberg's Third String Quartet was given its first performance on September 19, 1927, in Vienna by the Kolisch Quartet, founded by first violinist Rudolf Kolisch (1896-1978) in 1922. Members of the quartet once confronted Schoenberg about a passage in the Quartet in which Schoenberg diverged from the notes called for by the particular row form in use at that point. Schoenberg angrily responded, "If I hear an F sharp, I will write and F sharp. If I hear an F natural, I will write an F natural. Just because of your stupid ... theory, are you telling me what to write?" By the time he composed the Third String Quartet, Schoenberg's approach to twelve-note composition had changed. He began to use tone rows as motifs, not exposing them plainly to the ear, as in the Wind Quintet, Op. 26. Rhythmic patterns based on a serial permutation of his choosing form the bases for his ideas. As in the earlier, tonal works, these ideas are subject to variation, but the contrapuntal texture is not as dense. Motivic manipulation, however, returns as a compositional procedure. Schoenberg once noted that while at work on the first movement, Moderato, an image continually came to mind from a fairytale he had known as a child. In the story, entitled "Das Gespensterschiff" (The Ghost Ship) a mutinous crew nails the captain, through his head, to the mast of the ship. Schoenberg insisted, however, that the story in no way formed a program for the movement, which was composed with a nod to sonata form. Here we find examples of Schoenberg's relaxation in the use of his twelve-note technique. For example, a five-note ostinato on the same pitches occurs for twelve measures. This figure continues to appear throughout the movement, sometimes truncated, or with varied shape and rhythm, functioning as connective tissue. Near the end, the motive sounds in broad, quarter-note triplets. Usually, the figure is used as an accompaniment to a sustained, leaping and falling theme in a higher voice. Because every repetition of the main theme is altered, it is understandable to hear the second movement as a set of variations. Fundamental changes in structure, however, distance the movement from the realm of theme and variation and approach the rondo format. The theme of the Intermezzo movement appears in the viola part. After changing meter several times, the opening measures return to create a rounded structure, as in Classical-era themes. Schoenberg, however, alters the opening of the theme at its return. The detached, motivically based theme gives way to a more fluid, arching bridge melody that introduces the central section, built around a theme with a narrow range and repeated notes. All three ideas are recapitulated, albeit in a shortened form. A somewhat violent Trio follows, its opening, syncopated theme contrasting with a more lyrical episode. The fourth movement follows a complex sonata-rondo format: A-B-A2-C(+D)-A3-B2-A4-Coda. Section D is really a development passage with elements of the preceding themes. Thus, sections A3-B2-A4 function as a recapitulation, despite the fact that all the material is changed. There is a wealth of ideas in the movement, with each section containing great internal contrast. The first theme, for example, juxtaposes two measures of large leaps with two that have a very narrow melodic range. [Allmusic.com]

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