The String Quartet, Op. 28 by Anton Webern is written for the standard string quartet group of two violins, viola and cello. It was the last piece of chamber music that Webern wrote (his other late works include two cantatas Op. 29/31 and the Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30).
The work was initially planned in November 1936 and was premiered at the Coolidge Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on September 22, 1938 in response to a commission th...
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The String Quartet, Op. 28 by Anton Webern is written for the standard string quartet group of two violins, viola and cello. It was the last piece of chamber music that Webern wrote (his other late works include two cantatas Op. 29/31 and the Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30).
The work was initially planned in November 1936 and was premiered at the Coolidge Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on September 22, 1938 in response to a commission that year from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. It is in three movements:
The String Quartet is atonal, and like all of Webern's mature works, is composed using the twelve-tone technique. The tone row on which the piece (B♭, A, C, B, D♯, E, C♯, D, G♭, F, A♭, G) is based is intricately constructed and based on the BACH motif (B♭, A, C, B♮):
The first four notes of the row are the BACH motif itself, followed by its inversion, followed by same motif transposed up a minor sixth. A special property of this row is that its inversion (G, A♭, F, G♭, D, C♯,...
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