The Fourth String Quartet composed by Belá Bartók, pays homage to the sonata form yet reveals a side of original thinking by uniting new methods of form versus theme, sound versus math, and new theory versus tradition.
Quartet No. 4 contains five movements of which the first and fifth are related by allegro and allegro molto. The second prestissimo con sordino and the fourth, allegro pizzicato, with the third movement, Non troppo lento standing alone at its keystone of the arch form.
The key relationship is also of the same symmetry in that the first and last movements are in the key of C, while the second is a major third higher in E, and the fourth a major third lower in A-flat. Also the central movement is in itself an A-B-A form. The entire piece is set for thematic development. The sonata-form movement begins with a rising half-tone and acts as a seed for future growth. Many of the beginning themes are not recognizable until the middle and end of the movements. The development and growth of the piece in fact makes sense out of complex mathematical process.
(I have attached the first page of each movement)
Before going into the many processes of the piece you may want to download it from iTunes under Belá Bartók.
later.
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