The early years: Composers born in the late nineteenth century, up to

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Central European countries

The Moravian composer Leos Janáček (1854-1928) produced two string quartets. As is the case with Smetana and Webern, Janáček seems to have expressed his innermost feelings in his string quartets, as well as in his lost piano trio. The first quartet, composed between 30 October and 7 November 1923, was dedicated to the Bohemian quartet, who gave the first performance on 17 October 1924 in Prague. The quartet, named The Kreutzer Sonata, was named after the Tolstoy novel of the same name. The novel, in turn, was named after Beethoven’s 9th sonata for violin and piano, Opus 47, which was dedicated to the violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer. Griffiths notes that Janáček chose to base his quartet and trio on the Tolstoy novel because of the fact that, in the novel, marriage is portrayed as the antithesis of true, pure love (Griffiths 1989:3). Janáček makes use of thematic material from his lost piano trio of 1909-10, also called The Kreutzer Sonata. Although the quartet has four movements, they are by no means traditional in form (I. Adagio con moto, II. Con moto, III. Con moto – Vivace – Andante – Tempo 1, IV. Con moto).
Janáček’s second string quartet (Intimate Letters), composed between 29 January and 19 February 1928, was first performed on 11 September 1928 by the Moravian Quartet in Brno, four weeks after the composer’s death. The subtitle of the quartet refers to love letters Janáček wrote to Kamila Stösslová, a young married woman, whom he met and fell in love with in 1917. Although the relationship existed almost entirely in the composer’s mind, Kamila was at the same time his beloved and his muse. According to Griffiths, much of what Janáček wrote after having met her, including The Diary of the One Who Disappeared and Katya Kabanova, were actually intimate letters addressed to her in some way or another. The outer movements of this quartet are forceful and forward moving in character, as opposed to the two inner movements, which are softer in character. The main theme in the second movement is introduced by the viola, while the third movement contains elements of a Slavonic barcarolle. (Griffiths 1989:3.)

Russia

The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75) contributed fifteen works to the string quartet genre. Shostakovich turned to this genre well after his formative years, later than the “message bearing” genres like opera, song and symphony. This was common practise at the height of Communism, when Stalin was at the helm, as the chamber music genre was often frowned upon and regarded as elitist (Fanning 1995:2). However, from the 1930s the artistic institutions of the Soviet Union relaxed into a more traditionalist outlook, allowing Shostakovich the freedom to express himself through the intimacy of the string quartet. According to Gloag (2003:300), Shostakovich 31 viewed the string quartet as a “[…] viable medium for the construction and articulation of his own personal sound world”. Most of his string quartets were premiered by the Beethoven quartet, with whom he had a long-standing relationship and with whom he premiered his piano quintet. Although Shostakovich described his first string quartet, composed in 1938, as childlike, with bright moods, some analysts state that this description is a denial of the political climate of the time (Gloag 2003:300).
Shostakovich makes use of the traditional four movement structure, although both the first and second movements carry Moderato as tempo indication. The first movement centres round C major as tonality. However, the use of folk-inspired material, direct melodic drive, rhythmically driven accompanying figures, as well as a sense of irony so characteristic of his later compositions, including later string quartets, can all be found in this quartet. According to Gloag (2003:301), the eighth string quartet, composed in July 1960 and premiered by the Beethoven Quartet in the same year, is undoubtedly one of the composer’s finest achievements. Although composed only four months after the seventh, his personal circumstances changed radically during this period. He was on the verge of a breakdown and was practically forced to join the Communist Party. In the same year as composing the seventh and eighth string quartets, he became the first secretary of the Russian Federation Composers’ Union (Fairclough 2006:6).

From chamber venue to concert hall

According to Bashford (2003: 3), the history of the string quartet as we know it today can be traced from the middle of the eighteenth century. Works composed for two violins, a viola and a cello were composed by composers such as Vanhal, Mozart and Haydn, and were referred to as serenade, divertimento or quartetto (Bashford 2003: 3). This musical genre was aimed at the enjoyment of both the performers and the listeners and was meant to be performed in the intimacy of a room rather than a concert hall. Bashford refers to Richard H. Walthew, who uses the term “music of friends” (Bashford 2003: 3, 328). String quartets were composed as a conversation amongst four voices, or, as Goethe later described it, “four rational people conversing” (Bashford 2003: 4, 328). String quartet playing was limited to the upper class of society – the wealthy and budding middle class. Women were deemed unfit to play in a string quartet; they were only permitted to play a keyboard instrument (Bashford 2003:4). However, an engraving appearing in the Illustrated London News on 2 March 1872, shows Madame Norman-Neruda playing first violin, thus suggesting that the status quo was changing (Bashford 2003:7).

1930 to 1959

Graham Newcater (b.1941) was born in Johannesburg. While still in primary school, he relocated to Durban with his parents, where he finished his schooling at the Durban Technical College, leaving school as a qualified mechanical engineer (Rörich 1987:103). Newcater showed interest in music and composition from an early age. Having started trumpet lessons at the age of eleven, he first tried his hand at composition at the age of twelve. As a high school student, he took clarinet, piano and conducting lessons. During this period, some of his student compositions were sent to the composer Eric Chisholm, head of the SACM at the time. Chisholm sent the compositions to Arnold van Wyk, who agreed to teach Newcater via correspondence. This period of tuition lasted three years (Rörich 1987:103). From 1957 until 1960, while working in the sales department of a vehicle firm, Newcater was tutored by composer and conductor Gideon Fagan. At this stage, Newcater was already fully committed to serialism, something Fagan found hard to accept (Rörich 1987:103). In 1962 Newcater was awarded the first 44 SAMRO bursary. This allowed him to study composition with Peter Racine Fricker at the RAM.
During his stay in London, he not only deepened his knowledge regarding composition, but actively took part in other musical activities, such as conducting first performances of student works and strengthening his ties with other students embracing serialism. During this period (1962-1964), he composed his First Symphony which, according to Rörich (1987:103), “was to become the catalyst for his future compositional development and which remains his most frequently performed orchestral work”. After having returned to South Africa in 1962, he was employed as musical assistant to Anton Hartman, conductor and head of Music at the SABC. In 1966, Newcater returned to London to study with British dodecaphonist Humphrey Searle. He was offered as Senior Lecturer in Composition under Searle, but was forced to return to South Africa because of problems securing a work permit. He returned to the SABC, this time as librarian, where he remained under the care of Anton Hartman until Hartman’s death in 1982 (Rörich 1987:104).

The sixteenth to early nineteenth centuries

According to Jones (2003:180) the first body of work conceived specifically for string quartet was Luigi Boccherini’s (1743-1805) Opus 1 (G. 159-164). Boccherini produced more than ninety quartets in his lifetime, using the three movement fast-slow-fast structure, as found in Sammartini’s work. 19 Until around 1780, the word divertimento was used for a wide variety of compositional genres, such as sonatas, trios and what later became the string quartet. The word divertimento implied that the work was written for one or more solo instruments, without the presence of a continuo instrument. According to Eisen, the word did not imply that the composition was lighter in mood and style than a more serious title (Eisen 2001:585). It should be noted that while Mozart composed actual string quartets, he used both titles the 3 Divertimenti K 136-138, as well as his only string trio, K 563.

Table of contents :

• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Opsomming
• Keywords
• Chapter 1: Introduction
  • 1.1 Background to the study/ Rationale
  • 1.2 Research problem
  • 1.3 Objectives of the study
  • 1.4 Literature review
  • 1.5 Research methodology
  • 1.6 Problems encountered during the research process
  • 1.7 Ethical considerations
  • 1.8 Chapter outline
• Chapter 2: Historical outline of the development of the string quartet
  • 2.1 The string quartet as composition
    • 2.1.1 Origins
    • 2.1.2 The sixteenth to early nineteenth centuries
    • 2.1.3 The nineteenth century
      • 2.1.3.1 Austria and Germany
      • 2.1.3.2 Central European countries
      • 2.1.3.3 Russia
    • 2.1.4 The twentieth century
      • 2.1.4.1 France
      • 2.1.4.2 Austria
      • 2.1.4.3 Central European countries
      • 2.1.4.4 Russia
• 2.2 The string quartet as a functional entity
  • 2.2.1 From chamber venue to concert hall
  • 2.2.2 The age of technology
  • 2.2.3 Full circle

• Chapter 3: Tracing the string quartet in South Africa
  • 3.1 The early years: Composers born in the late nineteenth century, up to
  • 3.2 1930 to
  • 3.3 1960 to
  • 3.4 The new generation (1980- )
• Chapter 4: Comments regarding the annotation process
  • 4.1 Catalogue inscriptions
  • 4.2 Annotations
• Chapter 5: Catalogue
  • 5.1. Compositions for traditional string quartet formation
• Chapter 6: Conclusions and suggestions for further research
  • List of sources
• Appendix: Questionnaire directed at composers
  • Letter of consent: Composers

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String quartets by South African composers: a comprehensive catalogue and annotated discussion of works composed between 1940 and