Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958)
String Quartet No.1 G minor (1909)
1 Allegro moderato 2 Minuet & Trio: Tempo di minuetto
3 Romance: Andante sostenuto 4 Finale: Rondo capriccioso-Allegro molto
This early work was written when Vaughan Williams was thirty-six and soon after a period of three months study of composition and
orchestration with Ravel in Paris. Prior to this Vaughan - Williams had studied music at Trinity Cambridge and at the Royal College, London.
He developed slowly as a composer and did not publish his first piece until he was thirty (the song, “Linden Lea”). The quartet was one of his
first important works, coming after, “Towards the Unknown Region” and before “On Wenlock Edge,” “Phantasy String Quintet” and the “Sea
Symphony.”
The quartet understandably carries over features of Ravel’s musical style after his studies in Paris but there are also glimpses of Debussy’s
influence in the textures and melodic material as well as embryonic personal features that would be developed in the future. The first
movement opens with a lyrical theme on viola. The material is subtly developed before it ends with a recap of the main themes. The second
movement shows more of Vaughan Williams’ own style with its modal and folk song style influences but in a quasi traditional French style
Minuet and Trio structure. French styles again appear in the lyrical and beautiful third movement whose central section is intense and
passionate. The final movement is the most typical of Vaughan Williams’ style with its folksy bounce and energy. The piece ends with a blaze
of virtuosic colour.