Presents
Jan Levoslav Bella
String Quartet No.1 in g minor
Jan Levoslav Bella (1843-1936), for the first 76 years of his life was an Austrian, he spent his last 17 as a Czechoslovak, and today, he is posthumously a proud son of the Slovak Republic. He was born in the small town of Liptovsky St. Mikulas in what was then the Habsburg Empire. He studied both music and theology locally and was ordained as a priest in 1866. He then traveled widely in Germany where he was influenced by the music of Schumann and Liszt. In 1881, he left the priesthood and married, taking a position as City Music Director (Stadtskapellmeister) in Hermannstadt (now Sibiu, Romania), a town with a sizeable German population in what was then part of the Hapsburg Empire or Austria-Hungary. He held this position until he retired in 1921. Although, he is virtually unknown today, he was well-known and on friendly terms with many prominent musicians such as Richard Strauss, Liszt, Brahms, and Ernst von Dohnanyi, whose works he championed and performed. Though the bulk of his compositions consist of choral music, he did not ignore chamber music, writing four string quartets, two of which were often performed by well-known ensembles, and also a viola quintet. It can be said that Bella was attracted to the German neo-romantic school rather than the nationalism and dramatic naturalism of Smetana and Dvorak. His chamber music often shows the influence of Liszt. Discussing Bella's string quartets, the editor of
His String Quartet No.1 in g minor dates from 1866 and is contemporaneous with Dvorak’s earliest quartets and predates those of Brahms and Smetana. It was premiered at a concert with the famous Hungarian violin virtuoso Remenyi on first violin, Bella played the viola and the father of Ernst von Dohnanyi was on cello. Bella forgot about the work and did not hear it again until his 85th birthday at a concert in 1928 when it was played in celebration of his birth. The opening movement, Grave allegro, begins with a short, deeply felt, somber introduction which leads to a yearning main section full of forward drive. The second movement, an impressive and gorgeous, funereal Adagio. The dance-like Scherzo allegro which comes next is a Central European relative of Schumannesque scherzo. The finale, Allegretto, has for its main subject a pleading theme which Bella quickly develops an energetic dance.
This is the least known, if one can even say that since none are well-known, of Bella’s quartets. It is a fine work, good for concert and also for amateurs.
Parts: $24.95
Score & Parts: $34.95
