Ferdinand Hiller string quartet No 1

[Gareth Vaughan]

Going off at something of a tangent, I admit, but does anyone know the whereabouts of the MS of the Symphony in G "Im Freien" (British premiere 1852)?

[Double-A]

Listening to your recording makes me wonder why I missed the Mendelssohnian second theme.  It is so obvious when you play it.  The piece sounds not nearly as good with playback.
I still think maybe the movement overstays its welcome somewhat.

[matesic]

A little sleuthing confirms that the main theme of Hiller's finale is very closely related to the second subject of Op.131's allegro molto vivace (letter E) - 4 sequential notes are actually identical. Although in a different meter and key with the last note transposed up an octave, Hiller's second subject (second phrase) bears more than a passing resemblance to Mendelssohn's Op.12 (first movement, second subject), where I remember our late lamented second violinist once got a public attack of the purlies. In both cases the phrase is immediately repeated. And could that be Death and the Maiden I hear in bar 33? Not quite, but Hiller's influences are becoming abundantly clear!

[eschiss1]

Hrm. Could choose worse influences, and originality, especially per se, is much overrated...

[matesic]

Do you think in this case Hiller may actually have been advertising his avant-garde listening tastes? I agree there's many a good tune still to be played on an old fiddle (not the best metaphor, but it will have to do!), but the record shows that a composer is most unlikely to be remembered by posterity unless he or she also develops an original "voice", deliberately or not. I believe that may be the crucial missing factor for many of the unsungs.

[Double-A]

The first quartet by Ferdinand Hiller was not received with universal acclaim when I posted it on IMSLP .  After some hesitation I decided to typeset and post the two remaining Hiller quartets anyway:  Hiller's music more generally enjoys a rather good reputation and it seems worthwhile looking at his entire output of quartets.  The second quartet is now on IMSLP (after long procrastination on proofreading and formatting).  It is also here (though the computer realization is rather awful). 

Short description:  The second resembles the first quartet in its essentially classical design (four movements of the "correct" length, total playing time approx. 19 min), striving to write four interesting parts, but also looking to find new textures for the quartet sound and showing some originality.  Compared to his two almost perfectly contemporaneous colleagues Mendelssohn (born 1809) and J. B. Gross (1811; Hiller also 1811) he is the most conservative.  His first two quartets are also technically least demanding for players, easier than most Haydn quartets (if you are coaching amateur quartets you may consider one of them.  They might do better with it than with Mozart).

The first movement, moderato, is in sonata form in ⅜, pretty in an almost 18th century way but not particularly interesting. 

The second movement in G-Major, allegro capriccioso in 2/4, serves as a scherzo or rather intermezzo.  Its main melody resembles strongly the ones Mendelssohn used in his intermezzi in op. 12 and 13.  But it does not follow the traditional da capo form like Mendelssohn's movements.  It starts out with a short repeated section--what one expects from such da capo movements.  The theme is interrupted by a motif consisting of four accented crotchets on the same pitch.  The second part begins very much still in the da capo mold with the four crotchet motif showing up regularly in one voice or another.  But then a hesitation occurs--rather than the expected repeat--and the music launches into a fugato on that four crotchet motif.  For the rest of the movement we hear the four-crotchet-motif take over the music, which eventually ends on it.  This piece is quite original and a lot of fun.  To me the best of the four movements.

The third movement, also in G, adagio quasi andante, is a rondo with three themes--one solemn in Major, the second sad in minor, the third more joyous in Major.  All three themes undergo some transformations along the way.  At the end we get the opening theme reduced to a skeleton in pizzicato, followed by a somewhat unusual final cadence.

The last movement, allegro molto, now back in b-minor, is a sonata movement.  There is a hectic atmosphere almost throughout with a first theme with lots of rests giving an impression of breathlessness, triplet accompaniments, accents in secondary voices, dynamic contrasts.   The second theme is quieter but still has forward momentum.  The end comes surprisingly in piano--and in B-Major like Hiller's classical models.  Quite effectful as a finale.