String Quartet no. 2 (B. Tchaikovsky)

Boris Tchaikovsky completed his String Quartet no. 2 in 1961 .

Tchaikovsky let the strict form here partly loose. It is much less melodic than his String Quartet no. 1, but melody is the string still. Of exposition and development is no longer; being as it were four separate parts that were put together. The most striking is that the composition is in constant motion; there is nowhere called "stop". Part 2 can be seen as the scherzo, part 3 as the serious part.

The work consists of four parts: The first performance took place on February 3rd 1962 by the renowned Borodin Quartet . Venue of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
 * 1) Moderato
 * 2) Allegro (in smooth march tempo )
 * 3) Largo
 * 4) Allegro non troppo.

Discography
There was until 2009 no recording available. In that year an edition with all six quartets by Ilya Zoff, Elena Raskova ( violin ), Lydia Kovalenko ( viola ) and Alaxey Massarsky ( cello ). The record label Northern Flowers took the string quartets in 2008 in cooperation with the Boris Tchaikovsky Society. Meanwhile, the Russian Arts Foundation sponsored such recordings as well.

Source

 * the compact disc
 * Boris Tchaikovsky Foundation