Charles Villiers Stanford: String Quartet No.3 in D minor, op.64 (1896)

In 1921 Charles Porte wrote that Charles Villiers Stanford’s String Quartet No.3 was “fairly representative of the composer” and goes on to suggest that the work was basically “classical but frequently tinged with a certain beauty of effect and poetical feeling peculiar to him.”  This is an excellent summary of a chamber work that has been largely ignored since the turn of the twentieth-century.

Stanford (1852-1924) was a prolific composer of chamber music, with examples of every combination of instruments. Over a considerable part of his mature career he wrote eight string-quartets – the first being in 1891 and the last completed in 1919.  All eight quartets have been recorded by SOMM Records. However, they have not yet entered the recital room as a complete ‘cycle’.

In the late summer of 1896 Stanford had been holidaying at Tintern House in Malvern where he had been working on his magisterial Requiem. This major piece had been commissioned for the Birmingham Festival for the following year. During this ‘holiday’ he had a number of meetings with Sir Edward Elgar where they discussed this choral work. According to Jeremy Dibble, (Charles Villiers Stanford: Man and Musician, Oxford University Press, 2002, p.287), in his final week in Malvern, Stanford speedily composed the String Quartet No.3 which was duly completed on 29 September 1896. The first British performance was given at the small Queen’s Hall on 11 November during the sixth series of Mr. Richard Gompertz's String Quartet Concerts. It was dedicated to the Joachim Quartet.

The opening movement is an ‘allegro moderato ma appassionato’ and has some broad and passionate themes that move the music forwards with an almost ‘toccata like’ speed. Although much of this movement is flamboyant, including a marked similarity of mood between subjects, there are several moments when the temper changes to something a little more serious. However, for a movement written in a strong D minor key there is certainly little to suggest sadness or introversion.

The second movement is a graceful and attractive ‘allegretto semplice’ written in 3/8 time. In fact, an early reviewer stated that this ‘was so graceful that its immense ingenuity is not at first obvious.’ Whether this is an overstatement or not is a matter for debate but certainly this ‘allegretto’ carries more emotional weight than would at first appear.

The slow movement is the heart of the work. It is a formally complex ‘andante quasi fantasia’ that is fundamentally a lament. Jeremy Dibble has noted the expressive first violin figurations that remind the listener of the elaborate ornamentations of Irish ‘keening’ which was a vocal ‘cry’ that was usually associated with mourning in Celtic countries. However other material prevents this movement becoming too oppressive – most especially a lovely ‘andante’ tune that appears near the beginning and is repeated towards the end of this movement.

The final ‘allegro feroce’ restores some sense of fun to this quartet without entirely loosing the sense of profundity of the previous movement. It is essentially an Irish dance that brings the conclusion of the quartet with ‘unflagging vigour.’

Charles Villiers Stanford’s String Quartet No.3 was released by SOMM Records in 2018. It is coupled with the Quartets Nos. 4 in G minor and No.7 in C minor. They are performed by the Dante Quartet. The present work can be heard on YouTube, here.

With thanks to the English Music Festival, where this was first published. I have made some editorial changes.