Wolfgang Rihm
10. Streichquartett
Duration: 23'
Dedication: Franz Armin Morat gewidmet
Instrumentation details:
1st violin
2nd violin
viola
violoncello
Rihm - 10. Streichquartett for string quartet
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Wolfgang Rihm
Rihm: String Quartet No. 10 for 2 violins, viola and celloOrchestration: for 2 violins, viola and cello
Type: Stimmensatz
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Work introduction
This work consists of three movements; the first, Vorform [“Preform”] and the third, Strophe, are quite short – they frame the middle movement, called Battaglia / Follia [“Battle / Folly”], according to which the music is written. It is aggressive, chiselled (the strings are more often struck than bowed). This is the milieu in which the children’s song Taler, Taler, musst wandern, von der einen Hand zur andern appears. Naturally, the middle section also makes references to La Follia. The thrilling furioso is followed in the last movement by a “sonically severe, concentrated and almost metaphysical counterpart, giving the totality of the composition its compelling power,” as Matthias Roth says.