EDITION WILHELM HANSEN WH31600
Poul Ruders
STRING QUARTET NO.4
Score
20190522
Commissioned by The Britten-Pears Foundation and The Royal Philharmonic Society Written for the Vertavo String Quartet
Poul Ruders
STRING QUARTET NO. 4 2012
Score
Duration: c. 22 min.
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Poul Ruders STRING QUARTET NO. 4 is a 2013 Britten-Pears Foundation / Royal Philharmonic Society commission to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten and the bicentenary of the Royal Philharmonic Society
I Adagio - Presto alle breve - Adagio page 1 II Vivo scherzando page 12 III Adagio sognante page 18 IV Presto alla breve page 21 V Adagio page 44
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Notes on notation and special features Strings pont. = sul ponticello tasto = sul tasto s.v. = senza vibrato c.v. = con vibrato sord. = con sordino via sord. = sordino off
Bow punta = punta d’arco tall. = al tallone salt. = saltando (jété) c.l.b. = col legno battuto both cancelled by “arco” c.l.t. = col legno tratto flaut. = flautando
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Style = marcato on the string(s) = marcato off the string(s) = tenuto legato = tenuto with a slight “lift” = heavy “vertically felt” accent = light staccato = traditional louré (portato) = let ring out = Bartok pizzicato (hard slap)
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Poul Ruders STRING QUARTET NO. 4 2012
Preface / Programme Note It might be of interest for some to note, that a gap of only six months separates the writing of my second and third quartets (1979), but a 33 year interval stands between the third and the present piece, String Quartet No. 4. Which is in five movements and is about nothing but itself. The first movement “Adagio - Presto alla breve - Adagio” is an overture of sorts, lifting the lid, as it were, on the odd bit of what happens later on in the other movements. A portal into: The second movement “Vivo scherzando”, which is just that: a short (2 minutes only) fast and jocular piece leading up to the next movement: “Adagio sognante”, a slow and hushed dream-world, paving the way for the pièce de resistance of the entire quartet: “Presto alla breve”, a ferociously fast tour de force for the four players, who, with that one under their belts, can lean back a little (but only a little) and put the whole thing gently to bed in the fifth and final movement: a simple “Adagio”. Off the record: my first string quartet (1972) has been withdrawn and is no more, a fact that renders the numbering of the subsequent quartets a matter of personal conviction… Poul Ruders, November 2012
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STRING QUARTET No. 4 I Adagio
= 42
legatissimo
Poul Ruders, 2012
s. v.
Violin 1 s. v. legatissimo
Violin 2
s. v. legatissimo
Viola
s. v. legatissimo
Violoncello
6
tasto
Vl. 1
tasto
Vl. 2
tasto
Va. tasto
Vc.
12
ord.
Vl. 1 ord. c. v. tasto
Vl. 2
ord.
Va. ord.
Vc.
2 16 c. v.
Vl. 1
Vl. 2 c. v. tasto
Va.
Vc.
20
Vl. 1
Vl. 2
Va. c. v.
non harm.
Vc.
25
pont.
Vl. 1 pont.
ord.
Vl. 2 pont.
Va. pont.
Vc.
31
pont.
ord.
Vl. 1
Vl. 2
ord.
pont.
Va.
ord. / pizz.
Vc.
pont. / arco
3
Presto alla breve 36
= 146 subito ord.
Vl. 1 tasto
Vl. 2 ord.
Va. pizz.
tasto
Vc.
41
Vl. 1
Vl. 2
Va. arco
Vc.
47
Vl. 1
Vl. 2
Va.
Vc.
53
Vl. 1
Vl. 2 pont.
Va. pont.
Vc.
4
pont.
59
ord.
s. v. / tasto
Vl. 1 ord.
pont.
s. v. / tasto
Vl. 2
ord.
s. v. / tasto
Va. ord.
s. v. / tasto
Vc.
tasto
pont.
65
Vl. 1 sub. pont. tasto
Vl. 2 sub. tasto
Va. tasto
pont.
Vc. sub.
sub.
ord. tasto legato
71
Vl. 1 sub. ord. tasto
legato
Vl. 2 sub. legato tasto ord.
Va. sub. legato ord.
tasto
Vc. sub.
45 9
Vl. 1
Vl. 2 via sord.
flaut.
Va. come prima sim.
Vc.
12
Vl. 1
Vl. 2 non flaut.
con sord.
Va.
Vc.
15
Vl. 1
Vl. 2
via sord.
Va.
Vc.
18
Vl. 1
Vl. 2 con sord.
Va.
Vc.
46
22
Vl. 1 c. v.
s. v.
Vl. 2
Va.
Vc.
= 25
pont. / s. v.
G. P.
Vl. 1 pont. / s. v.
Vl. 2 pont. / s. v.
Va.
Vc.
= 29
ord.
Vl. 1
via sord.
senza sord.
Vl. 2
ord.
Va.
Vc. ca. 3'
WH31600 ISBN 978-87-598-2579-2