Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet (1931) is "regarded as one of the finest modernist works of the genre". It was funded by the Guggenheim Foundation and written in the spring of 1931, during Crawford's time in Berlin. It was first published in the New Music Edition in January 1941.
Overview The composition is in four untitled movements:String Quartet 1931 is Crawford's most frequently performed, recorded, and analyzed work. It has been regarded as a collection of experimental procedures she developed during the previous two years, including dissonant counterpoint, early serial techniques, formal symmetries, and number centricity. By some criteria, it is considered a more conservative work, with its traditional instrumentation and four-movement formal scheme.
Each of its four movements is built upon its own structural concept, while the motives and focal elements unify them as one piece. The first movement is the only movement of the quarter for which a major draft survives. Crawford's manuscript from 1931 can be found at the Library of Congress.Tick, Judith. "Dissonant Counterpoint Revisited: The First Movement of Ruth Crawford's String Quartet 1931," in A Celebration of American Music: Words and Music in Honor of H. Wiley Hitchcock. Ed. by Richard Crocker, R. Allen Lott and Carol J. Oja. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1990, pp. 405–422.
The first movement features a polyphonic framework using linear formations that are subjected to various contrapuntal operations: contrary (for inversion), crab (for retrograde), and basic transposition. The goal of Crawford's contrapuntal style was to produce independence among the different parts to produce "heterophony." In this movement, she uses principles of verse form for the opening and closing sections, such as rhyme and repetition. Crawford's uses a "poem" to frame the movement, but regularly introduces new beat groups so that it is unpredictable and energetic. The movement could be described as "ametric." Her methods suggest serial procedures,Perle, George. "Atonality and the Twelve-Note System in the United States," in The Score. Vol. 27, July 1960, pp. 51–66. but she not see her themes as rows with fixed pitch contents. In the draft score, she marked sections where she reshaped the material.
The second movement has been the least analyzed. It uses motives that are manipulated through the reordering of the intervals and constant shifting of rhythmic patterns to different parts of the beat. A unifying element of this movement is the imitation of rhythmic motives, which persists in throughout the movement in meter. Dynamics are used in a similar manner as in the first movement, and reinforce musical effects created by the rhythm and melodic motives.
The main melody of the third movement gives rise to harmonic effects that are characteristic of Crawford's customary melodic practices. The melody is split into two large sections, the first ascending in slow arches, and the second rapidly descending to its starting point. The third movement was the first work recorded as part of the New Music Quarterly Recordings. In a letter to Charles Ives to persuade him to finance the recording, Henry Cowell wrote, "As to the value of the Crawford Quartet, I think it is without question the best movement for quartet that any American has written, and I would rather hear it than almost anything I can think of."
The fourth is the most widely discussed movement out of the whole piece. It is organized according to a pre-composed numerical plan, where the theme is subjected to a series of transformations. Crawford's favorite serial operations involve systematic permutation and transpositions, which can be heard in this movement. The first violin's unrestrained melody is played against a strictly serialized melody played by the other three instruments. In some analyses, the orderly-patterned serial voice is regarded as more "rational" and "masculine", while the first violin's individuality is more "assertive" and "feminine".
Analysis String Quartet 1931 is one of the more celebrated works in the 20th century chamber music repertory, and the third and fourth movements have received much attention from critics, musicologists, and historians.
All four movements show varying degrees of organizational frameworks. Rather than relying on the technical capabilities of the instruments, Crawford relies on instrumental timbre and the balance of textures. The piece's anticipation of rhythmic techniques have been associated with Elliott Carter, while the independent and asymmetrical part writing has been attributed to Charles Seeger's method of dissonant counterpoint.
I. Rubato assai The first movement spans seventy-eight measures and is marked rubato assai. It contains fourteen different tempo changes, enhancing the rhapsodic nature of the movement. The effect is further accentuated by the long-line melodies with their large skips and diverse rhythmic patterns.
The opening section of the first movement was built on "metric form", referring to poetic rather than musical meter. Crawford inherited metric form from Seeger's characterization of "verse form" as a compositional technique. The phrase structure uses an AB/AB pattern, into which Crawford incorporates themes that have been transformed using contrapuntal operations. Her methods suggest serial procedures, but she did not see her themes as rows with fixed pitch contents. Rather, they are modified by "interval stretches," a term Seeger used to signify the alteration of one or two intervals within a repeat.
Although not patterned like the rhythm, the dynamics are used effectively in creating a sense of instability and fantasy. A sense of unity throughout the movement is provided by the mood and motive, and its liveliness allows it to compete with the technical prowess presented in other the movements of the quartet.
II. Leggiero In developing his neumatic theory, Seeger characterized the scale as a series of notes derived from neumes and their transformations. Consequently, the distinction between mode and scale became blurred. In his theory of neumation, he theorized that the scale, mode, and melody become closely interrelated with each other and can no longer be seen as distinct entities. The second movement of this piece has been analyzed by musicologist Nancy Yunhwa Rao in the context of these interrelated concepts.
The opening measure of the movement feature a scalar ascent that represents the neume, the scale and the melody simultaneously. It consists of a sequence composed of three hexachords, each separated by a whole tone. Crawford connects the hexachords using a joint interval of a whole tone, creating a two-octave sequence. This two-octave scale allows for the recurrence of a sequence, creating a sense of continuity. Crawford also uses this scale to create subtle differences in the overall design of the movement.
The "wedging motion" is another prominent feature of the second movement. In this context, the wedging motion is the motion from an initiating dyad toward a central destination dyad by steps or skips. This concept highlights the process of reaching a point of convergence. Its role within the overall structure of the movement is to articulate contours that contrast the contour of the two-octave scales and sequences. The repeated use of wedging motions that remain constant throughout the movement unify the movement.
III. Andante This movement provides an example of total organization of many musical features: pitch rests, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, instrumentation, and form. The pitch content remains free throughout, but the dynamics and rhythm are controlled. Crawford structures this movement around a dynamic design that Seeger called "dynamic counterpoint." Each instrument has its own pattern that constantly changes, in which every pitch swells in the middle of the tone. The combination of these tones, with its rhythmic and dynamic patterns, create a pulsing sound effect that fade away. This "almost impressionist" has been described as sounding Bartókian.
The harmony changes one note at a time, and that series of new notes creates the basic melodic line of the movement. The four instruments take turns introducing new notes, but does not follow any systematic pattern. Thus, the melody exhibits characteristics of Klangfarbenmelodie, with its instrumental timbre constantly shifting. One note is introduced and sustained until it is the same instrument's turn to play another one. The movement of melodies can be understood as harmonies produced by the after-effects of the sustained tones.
The form of the movement is built from a aggregation of continual, short rhythmic units. All four instruments play continuously but start at different times at the beginning and at the end of the movement. The chord in measure 75 contains triple stops for all instruments. It is the only place in the entire movement where all four parts start together on the first beat of the measure.
Hisama argues that the movement also departs from the predominant Classical string quartet model where the first violin acts as the leader, while the second violin, viola, and cello provide harmonic support. Instead, the instruments work cooperatively and share the same tasks.Hisama, Ellie M. (1996). Gender, Politics, and Modernist Music Analyses of Five Compositions by Ruth Crawford (1901-1953) and Marion Bauer (1887-1955). City of University of New York. pp. 15–43.
IV. Allegro possibile Crawford never provided a program for the fourth movement, but it appears that she intended for it to resemble a dialogue. In her own analysis of the movement, she designates opposing parts—Voice 1 for the first violin and Voice 2 for the second violin, viola, and cello. In her personal copy, she replaced the "Allegro possibile" with "'Allegro quasi recitative", recitative begin a vocal style that imitates speech.
The two voices do not have a typical relationship of melody and accompaniment. They are designed to contrast each other as if in a vigorous dialogue. The pitch classes of Voice 2 are derived from a single ten-note series, which is typical of Crawford's usual melodies. The series is systematically rotate and transformed in a serial manner. The tonal material of Voice 1 contrasts that of Voice 2. Whereas Voice 2 has strict serial rotations, Voice 1 flows freely. It is characterized by qualities that are typical of Crawford's other free melodies. Although the two voices do not share many of the same intervals, the same segments that are heard as Voice 2 rotates complements Voice 1.
Her allusions to dialogue are the subject of many analyses. Hisama finds that the discourse reflects Crawford's experience of professional marginalization, with Voice 1 taking on an assertive, female persona, while Voice 2 represent the a rigid collective voice of male authority. In contrast, Straus describes the fourth movement as a narrative about conflict and mediation. The independent nature of the first violin can be perceived as "masculine," and despite the conflicting melodies, they still share a sense of cohesion and belonging. Both analyses could be plausible, as Straus has noted that her music "offers multiple perspectives, and privileges none of them."
The dynamics of the two voices are independent. Voice 1 aims to achieve rhythm fluidity by using an assortment of eighths, dotted quarters, ties, triplets, quintuplets, and sextuplets. In contrast, Voice 2 has a rigid character that is constructed of constant single rhythmic values that are executed through irregular bowing patterns. Throughout the movement, the opposing voices alternate and overlap.
Mathematical structuring can be seen in this movement. Her precompositional strategies often incorporate number centricity and can manifest in various musical domains. According to Seeger, the operative number is ten.