Ruders STRING QUARTET NO. 4

EDITION WILHELM HANSEN WH31600

Poul Ruders

STRING QUARTET NO.4

Score

20190522

Commissioned by The Britten-Pears Foundation and The Royal Philharmonic Society Written for the Vertavo String Quartet

Poul Ruders

STRING QUARTET NO. 4 2012

Score

Duration: c. 22 min.

II

Poul Ruders STRING QUARTET NO. 4 is a 2013 Britten-Pears Foundation / Royal Philharmonic Society commission to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten and the bicentenary of the Royal Philharmonic Society

I Adagio - Presto alle breve - Adagio page 1 II Vivo scherzando page 12 III Adagio sognante page 18 IV Presto alla breve page 21 V Adagio page 44

III

Notes on notation and special features Strings pont. = sul ponticello tasto = sul tasto s.v. = senza vibrato c.v. = con vibrato sord. = con sordino via sord. = sordino off

Bow punta = punta d’arco tall. = al tallone salt. = saltando (jété) c.l.b. = col legno battuto both cancelled by “arco” c.l.t. = col legno tratto flaut. = flautando

IV

Style = marcato on the string(s) = marcato off the string(s) = tenuto legato = tenuto with a slight “lift” = heavy “vertically felt” accent = light staccato = traditional louré (portato) = let ring out = Bartok pizzicato (hard slap)

V

Poul Ruders STRING QUARTET NO. 4 2012

Preface / Programme Note It might be of interest for some to note, that a gap of only six months separates the writing of my second and third quartets (1979), but a 33 year interval stands between the third and the present piece, String Quartet No. 4.

Which is in five movements and is about nothing but itself. The first movement “Adagio - Presto alla breve - Adagio” is an overture of sorts, lifting the lid, as it were, on the odd bit of what happens later on in the other movements. A portal into: The second movement “Vivo scherzando”, which is just that: a short (2 minutes only) fast and jocular piece leading up to the next movement: “Adagio sognante”, a slow and hushed dream-world, paving the way for the pièce de resistance of the entire quartet: “Presto alla breve”, a ferociously fast tour de force for the four players, who, with that one under their belts, can lean back a little (but only a little) and put the whole thing gently to bed in the fifth and final movement: a simple “Adagio”.

Off the record: my first string quartet (1972) has been withdrawn and is no more, a fact that renders the numbering of the subsequent quartets a matter of personal conviction…

Poul Ruders, November 2012

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STRING QUARTET No. 4 I Adagio

= 42

legatissimo

Poul Ruders, 2012

s. v.

Violin 1 s. v. legatissimo

Violin 2

s. v. legatissimo

Viola

s. v. legatissimo

Violoncello

6

tasto

Vl. 1

tasto

Vl. 2

tasto

Va. tasto

Vc.

12

ord.

Vl. 1 ord. c. v. tasto

Vl. 2

ord.

Va. ord.

Vc.

2 16 c. v.

Vl. 1

Vl. 2 c. v. tasto

Va.

Vc.

20

Vl. 1

Vl. 2

Va. c. v.

non harm.

Vc.

25

pont.

Vl. 1 pont.

ord.

Vl. 2 pont.

Va. pont.

Vc.

31

pont.

ord.

Vl. 1

Vl. 2

ord.

pont.

Va.

ord. / pizz.

Vc.

pont. / arco

3

Presto alla breve 36

= 146 subito ord.

Vl. 1 tasto

Vl. 2 ord.

Va. pizz.

tasto

Vc.

41

Vl. 1

Vl. 2

Va. arco

Vc.

47

Vl. 1

Vl. 2

Va.

Vc.

53

Vl. 1

Vl. 2 pont.

Va. pont.

Vc.

4

pont.

59

ord.

s. v. / tasto

Vl. 1 ord.

pont.

s. v. / tasto

Vl. 2

ord.

s. v. / tasto

Va. ord.

s. v. / tasto

Vc.

tasto

pont.

65

Vl. 1 sub. pont. tasto

Vl. 2 sub. tasto

Va. tasto

pont.

Vc. sub.

sub.

ord. tasto legato

71

Vl. 1 sub. ord. tasto

legato

Vl. 2 sub. legato tasto ord.

Va. sub. legato ord.

tasto

Vc. sub.

45 9

Vl. 1

Vl. 2 via sord.

flaut.

Va. come prima sim.

Vc.

12

Vl. 1

Vl. 2 non flaut.

con sord.

Va.

Vc.

15

Vl. 1

Vl. 2

via sord.

Va.

Vc.

18

Vl. 1

Vl. 2 con sord.

Va.

Vc.

46

22

Vl. 1 c. v.

s. v.

Vl. 2

Va.

Vc.

= 25

pont. / s. v.

G. P.

Vl. 1 pont. / s. v.

Vl. 2 pont. / s. v.

Va.

Vc.

= 29

ord.

Vl. 1

via sord.

senza sord.

Vl. 2

ord.

Va.

Vc. ca. 3'

WH31600 ISBN 978-87-598-2579-2