String Quartet No. 5 in E major "The Allies", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ5,Allan Stiles. A Catalogue of the Music of Alfred Hill was completed by Alfred Hill on 24 June 1920 in Sydney (as indicated in the manuscript).Library catalogue entry for the manuscript score and parts It is dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen (the first director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium), whose quartet gave the first public performance of the composition on 2 March 1921. The music of the quartet presents four nations who were allies during World War I. It was subsequently arranged by Hill for string orchestra as his Symphony No. 11 "The Four Nations".Donald Maurice. Booklet notes to Naxos 8.572446 The approximate duration of the quartet is 29–33 minutes,The Naxos recording lasts 29:19, while Stiles in his edition supposes 33 minutes. which makes it one of the most substantial quartets composed by Hill.
Structure The quartet is in four movements,Stiles Music Publications each presenting a nation: France, USA, Italy, and Great Britain.The names of individual movements are given as printed in the Naxos booklet. The tempo markings are taken from the Stiles edition.
Editions Alfred Hill. String Quartet No.5 in E. Narara: Stiles Music Publications, 2007 (pub. number S72-2006; ISMN 979-0-720029-75-7)
Recordings (rec. 1994) Australian String Quartet (Hennessy, Lea, Crellin, Laurs) — (1997) Marco Polo 8.223746. (rec. 2007) Dominion String Quartet (Gezentsvey, Pucher, Maurice, Chickering) – (2009) Naxos Records 8.572446.
References
External links Andrew D. McCredie. Booklet notes to Marco Polo 8.223746