PER NORGARD – Early String Quartets – Nos. 1 & 2

Danish composer Per Norgard [born 1932] has written 10 string quartets thus far. The first nine date from 1952 to 1996. I can’t locate a date for No. 10. I am going to discuss quartets Nos. 1 & 2.

Norgard’s first string quartet, marked quartetto breve, which means ‘short quartet’, runs for just under seven minutes! It is in one movement (of course). It opens with a lilting rhythmic motif and the violin enters with a superb melody. This melody is then developed over about three minutes. This is a beautiful section. Then follows some striking cello interjections and the mood becomes a little torrid. The peace returns with a recapitulation of the opening theme. This is a splendid lamenting mood, which is again interrupted by the cello, bringing with it a period of chaos. The melody breaks into a tempo and the chaos continues with a dialogue between the violin and cello. The cello is very prominent, leading the work to its conclusion. This quartet is an outstanding piece of miniaturism; there is just so much beauty compacted into the seven minutes!

The second quartet is again in one movement, this time running for 20 minutes. It is marked brioso, which means ‘spirited’; and so it is. It definitely has a spirited opening, very skittery, with unrelated melodic lines competing for the space. The high register dominates, especially for the first violin. There is a period of dialogue between the violin and cello. The music eventually settles into a passage led by the cello; however the violins soon have their way. After a time, the mood settles down a little, even allowing for a brief pause. The violin and cello re-enter very slowly; long melodies develop here. You could reach out and touch this music, it’s like standing behind a waterfall. The mood slowly develops into an intense section where the cello and violin again converse. Now the cello is the soloist as the violins shimmer in the background.

At around the halfway mark, a brief pause occurs. We are in for a change. The music returns with a strong chordal section. There is no tempo, things just happen. Melodic lines drift over a very sparse harmonic background. The viola has a lead to play here. Now the volume drops back to almost nothing. We only hear the barest of whispers. The mood gently lifts, still quiet but increasing in volume. Now the violins are back to full intensity, the loudest so far in the work. It suddenly cuts back to string sound effects, no development here, just mild chaos. The volume and intensity return as the end is in sight. The cello now leads the way and the intensity has gone. The violin takes over and the music recedes.

This is a wonderful quartet. Norgard became a lot more modern in his many years of composing for string quartet and I intend to discuss one of the later works at another time.

No problem with availability here. Amazon US and UK both have String Quartets 1-6 by the Kontra Quartet on the Kontrapunkt label and also String Quartets 7-10 by the Kroger Quartet.

Many versions of Norgard’s quartets are on YouTube and earsense.

Listenability: Early works from a Modernist composer.