String Quartet (Debussy)

Claude Debussy completed his String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (L.91), in 1893 when he was 31 years old. It is Debussy's only string quartet.

String Quartet
by Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy in 1884
Key	G minor
Catalogue	L 91
Opus	10
Form	String quartet
Composed	1892–1893
Duration	About 25 minutes
Movements	Four
Premiere
Date	December 29, 1893 (1893-12-29)
Location	Société Nationale in Paris
Performers	Ysaÿe Quartet

Background

In 1892, Debussy had just abandoned the opera Rodrigue et Chimène. He planned to write two string quartets, only one of which he completed. The quartet was meant to be dedicated to composer Ernest Chausson, but Chausson's personal reservations diverted this intention.^[1]

The quartet received its premiere on December 29, 1893 by the Ysaÿe Quartet at the Société Nationale in Paris to mixed reactions.

Analysis

The work consists of four movements:

1. Animé et très décidé (G minor – D minor – G minor)
2. Assez vif et bien rythmé (G major – E♭ major – G major)
3. Andantino, doucement expressif (D♭ major – C♯ minor – D♭ major)
4. Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion (D♭ major – G minor – C major – G major)

Its sensuality and impressionistic tonal shifts are emblematic of its time and place and its cyclic structure constitutes a divorce from the rules of classical harmony into a new style. After its premiere, composer Guy Ropartz described the quartet as "dominated by the influence of young Russia; there are poetic themes, rare sonorities, the first two movements being particularly remarkable."^[1] Debussy said that "Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity."^{[citation needed]}

Maurice Ravel, another impressionist composer, wrote a string quartet that is modeled after Debussy's.