[Ulysses Quartet offers a program today of works illuminating the human experience of love from two very different perspectives. Anton Webern’s early Langsamer Satz portrays the boundless optimism and tenderness of young love, while Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, paints a raw and painful image of a soul tortured by a powerful obsession with an unobtainable woman. Though only 23 years separate their respective compositions, the intervening world war and the turmoil within the artistic world in the early 20th century are evident in the stark stylistic and technical contrasts between the two works.]
Langsamer Satz, Anton Webern
Webern composed Langsamer Satz in summer 1905 with the intention of incorporating it into a full string quartet (the title translates as ‘slow movement’) but then put the movement aside and never returned to complete the work. Known best as a prominent member of the Second Viennese School, this early work offers a rare glimpse of another side of Webern—the unabashed romanticism exhibited here contrasts with a later style characterized by an extreme restraint and spare, austere textures, as well as strict adherence to the techniques of the twelve-tone system as outlined by Schoenberg. Having recently returned from a tour of the Austrian countryside with the woman he would eventually marry, his outlook as he began his first string quartet was rosy. The piece opens in a rich, romantic tone, and as a darker element is introduced in the middle section each individual instrument’s pleading voice is answered by sympathetic and comforting commentary from the rest of the group, resolving finally into a peaceful and almost ecstatic close.Notes by Rhiannon Banerdt
Classical Music | Music for Quartet
Anton Webern
Langsamer Satz Play
Recorded on 11/05/2017, uploaded on 05/04/2017
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
[Ulysses Quartet offers a program today of works illuminating the human experience of love from two very different perspectives. Anton Webern’s early Langsamer Satz portrays the boundless optimism and tenderness of young love, while Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, paints a raw and painful image of a soul tortured by a powerful obsession with an unobtainable woman. Though only 23 years separate their respective compositions, the intervening world war and the turmoil within the artistic world in the early 20th century are evident in the stark stylistic and technical contrasts between the two works.]
Langsamer Satz, Anton Webern
Webern composed Langsamer Satz in summer 1905 with the intention of incorporating it into a full string quartet (the title translates as ‘slow movement’) but then put the movement aside and never returned to complete the work. Known best as a prominent member of the Second Viennese School, this early work offers a rare glimpse of another side of Webern—the unabashed romanticism exhibited here contrasts with a later style characterized by an extreme restraint and spare, austere textures, as well as strict adherence to the techniques of the twelve-tone system as outlined by Schoenberg. Having recently returned from a tour of the Austrian countryside with the woman he would eventually marry, his outlook as he began his first string quartet was rosy. The piece opens in a rich, romantic tone, and as a darker element is introduced in the middle section each individual instrument’s pleading voice is answered by sympathetic and comforting commentary from the rest of the group, resolving finally into a peaceful and almost ecstatic close. Notes by Rhiannon Banerdt
More music by Anton Webern
Langsamer Satz
Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 10
Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5
Langsamer Satz
Six Bagatelles for String Quartet Op.9
Passacaglia for Orchestra,Op.1
Langsam in G Major
Performances by same musician(s)
String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
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