Borodin - String Quartet No. 2 in D Major - IV. Finale Andante - Vivace

Borodin - String Quartet No. 2 in D Major - IV. Finale Andante - Vivace
The String Quartet No. 2, written in 1881, by Alexander Borodin is a work in four movements:
1. Allegro moderato in D major and 2/2 time, with 304 bars;
2.Scherzo. Allegro in F major and 3/4 time, with 299 bars;
3.Notturno (Nocturne): Andante in A major and 3/4 time, with 180 bars;
4. Finale: Andante — Vivace in D major and 2/4 time, with 671 bars.

The finale is the movement where Borodin's contrapuntal mastery is on full display. Written in a conventional sonata form, it opens with an introduction, which introduces the principal theme, broken into two elements--a dialogue between two violins, answered by a viola and cello. These "question-answer" motives (one possibly being an imprecise retrograde inversion of another) combine into the principal theme of the movement (beginning with measure 20), where the "answer" makes an accompaniment, and the "question" makes for the upper voice.

The principal theme is stated as a canon, with viola, second violin, and first violin stating the theme, which modulates into a dominant, and lead into the subordinate theme in measure 90. The subordinate theme retains the frantic pace of the principal theme, to be contrasted with a more relaxed closing theme, based on the motives of the subordinate theme, at measure 177. The development starts just as the exposition--with the question-answer dialogue, except the question now is in lower strings, and the answer in violins. After much contrapuntal work (including a charming "horse-riding" episode worthy of Rossini, beginning in measure 296), the recapitulation begins with the now familiar question-answer motives, this time enunciated by the combined strings (measure 371). The recapitulation proceeds as expected (with the subordinate theme in the tonic key, measure 459), only to be suddenly shifted into another key by the beginning of the coda (measure 588). But this modulation proves to be short-lived, and the coda quickly reaches the long-breathed D-major close.

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 1833 -- 27 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian--Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five (or "The Mighty Handful"), who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music. He is best known for his symphonies, his two string quartets, and his opera Prince Igor. Music from Prince Igor and his string quartets was later adapted for the US musical Kismet.

Creative Commons license: Public Domain.