String Quartet No. 2 in D Major
Composer: Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin
Date of Publication: 1881
Music was an enthusiastic hobby for Alexander Borodin. Most of his life was consumed by organic chemistry- and for good reason too; Borodin taught and researched aldehydes at the Medico-Surgical Academy, founded the School of Medicine for Women in St. Petersburg, and even had a reaction named after him: the Borodin Reaction between silver salts, carboxylic acids, and halogen. His profession coupled with demanding familial responsibilities in his 40s left him with sparse time to compose. He often took years to finish his works or abandoned them – his famous opera Prince Igor and second symphony were only finished after his death by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. However, Borodin had an unusually free summer in 1881 during which he composed his second String Quartet in only a few months.
His second Quartet was even more uncommon for Borodin as a member of “The Five” – Russian composers who aimed to make nationalistic music drawing from Russian dances and folksongs and free from other European influence. The other members - Mily Balakirev (who was also Borodin’s teacher), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – scorned chamber music and even tried to prevent Borodin from composing his first quartet. Borodin’s decision to compose No. 2 despite The Five’s disdain reflected his background. Borodin was more comfortable following a standard European quartet form as a traditional chemist and professor. The quartet was also personal and intimate in nature, meant to be performed in private salons not grand concert halls. Borodin had just returned from visiting Heidelberg where he first fell in love with his wife, the pianist Ekaterina Protopopova, 20 years earlier. His visit inspired him to compose his second quartet as a love letter and gift for their anniversary on August 22, 1861.
Borodin’s quartet is an absolute music piece – it wasn’t centered around any particular moment in his and Protopova’s relationship, but instead, the mood and atmosphere of romance. The first movement follows a traditional ABA sonata form and introduces the quartet’s emphasis on lyricism. It features a light, sighing serenade between two lovers with little tension highlighting love’s warmth and affection. Borodin, who plays the cello calls out to his wife, voiced by the first violin, which is thematically repeated throughout the entire quartet. The second movement is a playful scherzo in sonata form reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s folksongs and scherzo. The free, flowing melodies and brisk, descending eighths paint love’s playful and flirtatious nature. The fourth and final movement is the most boisterous and energetic movement of the entire piece. Its two motifs evoke a deep infatuation and simple, indescribable happiness that come with love. The movement alternates between Andante and Vivace sections as if to show the swooning heart skipping a beat and the giddy excitement when a lover calls your name. The third movement, Notturno (Nocturne), is the most famous and most complete characterization of love depicting a heavy-hearted passion, a bittersweet quarrel and tender resolution.
Notturno calls upon an intimate dialogue between lovers played by the cello and 1st violin. It begins with a high, singing melody from the cello whose rich half notes and soaring spans emanate a deep longing. The moving notes are thick and somehow, even denser. Each one of them is played tenuto, resulting in small spaces in between the triplets and sixteenths that suggest an obsessive adoration. The heart is intoxicated by Borodin’s love and the cellist is short of breath. Protopopova responds with the same sentiment, repeating the melody through the 1st violins. The accompanying viola and 2nd violin are just setting the stage for the lover’s conversation. In the middle of the movement, the lovers find their first conflict. The agitated middle section is marked by a slightly faster tempo and striking, ascending scales played by each part. The first motive returns several times but timidly as if to desperately remind the other that you’re still lovers. Throughout the agitated middle section and into the recapitulation, the viola bears the melody more and more. The viola’s warmth begins threading the compromise between the upset lovers and between the cello’s guttural sound and the violin’s brightness. The last section is characterized by the lovers’ resolution. The cello and violins share the melody as one voice and one mind. In fact, the fourth movement’s andante motifs seem to cling onto this intimacy as if unwilling to let go of the lovers’ embrace.
Movements:
I. Allegro moderato in D Major
II. Scherzo. Allegro in F Major
III. Notturno. Andante in A Major
IV. Finale: Andante — Vivace in D Major
Fun Fact:
The Notturno movement along with other themes from Borodin’s second quartet became famous worldwide when copied in the 1953 Kismet musical.
Test