[Alexander Chernov] String Quartet No.1 in A Major (2nd. Edition) Op.69 (Score-Video)

This quartet has 3 movements, composed in 1949 as Op.5, revised in 1969:
0:05 - I. Andante
3:36 - II. Allegretto
7:51 - III. Allegro - Andante - Tempo I - Meno mosso - Andante

Performers:
Taneyev Quartet
Grigori Lutzky, Vladimir Ovcharek (Violin)
Vissarion Soloviev (Viola)
Josif Lewinson (Cello)

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Alexander Abramovich Chernov (originally Pen, 1917-71), a well-known Soviet composer, musicologist, and teacher, graduated from the University of Leningrad (Dept of Chemistry, 1939), and served in the Soviet Army in the Far East during the World War II. When discharged from the army he graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory in Composition (1950) as a student of Maximilian Shteinberg and Boris Arapov. He assumed the last name of his father-in-law composer Mikhail Chernov.

Alexander Chernov is the author of the opera Kirill Izvekov, symphonic poem Danko, several ballets, with Icarus among them, operettas White Night Street and Once There Were Three Students, cantatas, chamber instrumental opuses, songs, in particular a vocal cycle to poetry of Jacques Prévert, and of music to several dozen films and to many plays. He is the author of the book Isaac Osipovich Dunaevsky, and of several opinion articles on contemporary music, jazz included. Chernov taught composition at the Leningrad Conservatory, and was Chair of Composition there in his last years.

String Quartet No. 1 (1949) is written in three movements, traditionally enough; however, it became known to the public much later—in 1969, in a second revision by the author. The composer dedicated it to its first performers—the Leningrad State Taneyev Quartet.

The First Quartet is an exceptionally characteristic work for A. Chernov. Just as in his symphonic, stage, and popular compositions, it presents the most diverse manifestations of lyricism. The three movements of the quartet are like three lyrical perspectives on the world: sorrowful contemplation, a kind and slightly ironic smile, and an active, determined impulse.

Two opposing compositional principles coexist in the quartet. The sharp emotional contrasts between movements and formal sections maintain a high level of dramatic tension throughout the entire work and give each section a special meaning. At the same time, the work is unified by an internal logic, by figurative "arches," and by recurring, through-running intonations that permeate the quartet, lending structure and completeness to the entire composition.

In the first movement — Andante — the composer used the form of a passacaglia. The muted timbre of the viola in the first statement of the passacaglia theme underscores the music's profound and focused character. The passacaglia theme can be called the main theme of the quartet, as it constantly reappears throughout the entire work. Its presence is also felt in the numerous polyphonic counter-melodies of the third movement, and it introduces a shade of sadness in the concluding bars of the second movement (viola solo).

The second movement — Allegretto — is a soft, elegant waltz. In the overall composition of the cycle, the second movement serves as an intermezzo—between the philosophical lyricism of the first movement and the dynamic, energetic finale.

The third movement — Allegro — is the culmination of the cycle. The finale's main theme is based on rigid figures built on fourths, and its rhythmic pattern is sharpened. Both the second theme of the finale and the fugato seem to concentrate the two main types of musical presentation found in the work: the solo monologic and the polyphonic.

The quartet concludes with a quiet, bright, serene coda, symbolizing the conceptual summary of the entire work.

(Source from LP, Written by E. Finkelshtein, Translated by Gemini 2.5 Pro)

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