Presents
Edvin Kallstenius
String Quartet No.3 in c minor, Op.8
Edvin Kallstenius (1881-1967)was born in the Swedish town of Filipstad. Initially, he studied science at Lund University but decided on a career in music and subsequently enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied compositon with Stefan Krehl. He pursued a career as a composer, music critic and music librarian for Swedish Radio. Chamber music represents a large part of what he wrote and includes some eight string quartets, a string trio, two trios for winds and strings and several sonatas. Prior to the First World War, he was considered one of Sweden’s leading composers. But today, if he is remembered at all, it is for his arrangement of the Swedish folktune Du gamla, Du fria (You old, you free), the de facto Swedish national anthem. His music can be divided into two periods. In the first, those works composed before 1920, he was influenced by the late Romantic composers, in particular Richard Strauss and Max Reger as well as the French impressionist composer Claude Debussy. His later works show the influence of Schoenberg’s 12 tone system.
His first two string quartets were composed between 1904 and 1905 while he was studying with Krehl in Leipzig and were his Op.1 and 2 respectively. String Quartet No.3 in c minor, Op.8 came nearly a decade later and dates from 1914. The first movement, Allegro cantabile, begins with a searching melody given out by the cello over over a flowing, restless eighth note accompaniment in the other voices. Slowly tension is built until a more lyrical section is presented. The second movement, Andante espressivo, quasi adagio, is sad and reflective. The finale, Allegro poco un fantastic, tempo di marcia, begins as a thumping, somewhat awkward march, rushing off here and there, eventually a slower more lyrical subject appears.
While this quartet requires experienced chamber music player, it is well worth the effort. An interesting work, ahead of its time, which deserves concert performance. After searching for a set of parts for more than a decade we found one in the library of a private collector. Unfortunately, the publisher of this work did not use the best of ink and though the work can be read with ease, the staves in some places are somewhat faint. For this reason we have priced the quartet at 25% below our already very affordable price for such works.
Parts: $19.95
