Dvorak "American" Quartet (Budapest Quartet, 1940)

[@kniazigor2276]

Magnifique interprétation !

[@davidyoung6331]

I have been doing a little music detective work for the past few days because of a very curious finding with the published parts of this quartet. If you listen to the music from 20:53 to 20:56 you can hear 3 of the players playing "8th note, 8th rest, 8th rest, 8th note" while the fourth player (The viola, I believe) plays the rhythm "8th note, 8th rest, 8th note, 8th rest" It is almost as though the violist got mixed up and got ahead of the other 3 instruments. In the full score, all four instruments should play the same rhythm, "8th note, 8th rest, 8th rest, 8th note". All four instruments play together. What is curious though, is that there are several famous string quartets who make the same error (Emerson, and several others, including the rather new Crimson String Quartet). But there are many quartets who play the part "correctly", for example, The American String Quartet, the Amadeus string quartet, the Novus string quartet, the Smetana string quartet, the Cleveland string quartet... all of these can be heard here on KZbin. So, it must be that a set of parts by one publisher has the mistaken transcription and there is another set of parts, from another publisher that has the correct transcription. (for anyone who has access to the score, the place in question is in the fourth movement, three and four measures prior to rehearsal number "8".... you can see the score here on KZbin if you listen to the Emerson Quartet play the piece.... and you can note for yourself that they make the mistake.) What fascinates me is that the mistake goes back to before 1940, as demonstrated here. Am I the only person who has noticed this mistake in .... what.... 60 years???

[@davidyoung6331]

I have learned more about this since I made this post a month ago. It transpires that the mistake was noticed a long time ago, in fact, within a year of the first publication of the quartet. For those two measures, Dvorak was somewhat sloppy in writing the autograph score. His publisher, Simrock, misinterpreted Dvorak's intentions and made the viola play a different rhythm (8th note, 8th rest, 8th note, 8th rest) when the other three parts are asked to play 8th note, 8th rest, 8th rest, 8th note. Dvorak noticed the mistake in part preparation and the part was corrected. Now, all the full scores, and most of the parts published of this piece show that all four instruments play the same rhythm. But somehow, the mistake in the viola part persisted in some sets of parts and even to this day, there are published parts (Kalmus, for instance) where the viola plays a different rhythm than the other three strings. In listening to about 80 renditions of this piece on KZbin, I would say that about 70 percent of quartets play the "correct" viola part and about 30 percent play the altered viola part. Have a listen to the Orion String Quartet play this piece (on KZbin) and you will hear how this passage is suppose to sound. Keep in mind, the altered viola part does not sound bad. It is not a wrong note, but just wrong timing, and certainly sounds like a reasonable musical figure. One professional String Quartet, the Donazal Quartet (Donazalovo Kwartet) has informed me that they prefer the altered viola part, and play it that way because they find it more attractive.

[@davidrmoran]

@@davidyoung6331 just wow; makes one chagrined to be a reviewer

[@LassonDavid]

@@davidyoung6331 I am not surprised that there are some listeners out there erudite enough to note the discrepancy between what Dvorak wrote (albeit sloppily) and what is played; nor am I surprised that the Orion Quartet, a group that I have heard several times and has consistently impressed be with its probity, musicality, and sense of purpose, has done the requisite work to get to the bottom of this discrepancy. But: as a non-musician (though a serious listener), it is hard for me to imagine what a group the caliber of the Budapest Quartet would have to do for two measures (three seconds, by your own accounting)--including switching to kazoos--that would negatively impact the pleasure I take in a fine 23-minute performance. A tempest in a teapot? Hardly: more like a drizzle in a thimble.

[@davidyoung6331]

@@LassonDavid Exactly. The music sounds wonderful either way. It is nothing more than a curiosity pointed out by a musician (me) who has honed his skills at proofreading. And the post is only for those who would find it curious themselves, making note about how a misread of a poorly scribed autograph score resulted in a different rhythm that persists 100+ years later. There is one professional quartet that plays the "error" and understands that it is not what Dvorak intended but plays it anyway because they prefer the altered rhythms. I think that the performs play what is in front of them. Orion probably had Barenreiter parts and Budapest might have had Kalmus parts. Actually, the only parts that I am familiar with are Kalmus, where they reproduce the "error."

[@utreda11]

Высший класс... Гениальное исполнение!