Jagdquartett (Sring Quartet No.3)

Description

Hunting Quartet

Score & parts

When comparing the output of string quartets from the 18th century to the time of Schumann, it appears to have dropped considerably. Schumann composed only three complete quartets, all of them in the so-called ‘chamber music year' 1842. Jörg Widmann, who counts Robert Schumann among his greatest inspirations, finished a series of five string quartets in 2005, at the same age as Schumann. The quartets in the cycle form in themselves the characters of the movements of the classical quartet. Jagdquartett represents the fast middle movement, the scherzo. Widmann‘s work appears rough and wild in the style of Schumann's alter ego Florestan. His hunt begins in the tempo of ‘allegro vivace assai' with the final theme of Schumann‘s Papillons which often appears or is cited in many of Schumann's compositions. Widmann eventually dismantles the thematic material of his fierce quartet, thus skeletonising his prey.