Violine I (Streichquartett)

Sometimes a composer is just not finished working with some ideas and Wery’s String Quartet develops at least three motives used in earlier works.

The first movement is in typical sonata allegro form. It has exposition of two clear theme groups the second of which is, more or less, at the dominant key relationship to the first followed by a development and a recapitulation in which the second theme group’s key is “corrected” to the tonic. This second theme group, however, is not only in the wrong key (the dominant) as one might expect, but in the wrong meter as well. Presented initially in non-linear development in which the component parts of the melody are presented out of order, the theme is “corrected” in the exposition to three-quarter time, give or take a measure of five-four. Harmonically the movement is based not on functional harmonies but on a series of related pitch class sets, a technique common to composers such as Béla Bartók and Luciano Berio. The opening gesture centers on an ascending major seventh. An earlier version of the material is found in the composer’s Three Conversations with Coffee for solo oboe, trumpet and string orchestra.

The second movement is a inspired by Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C minor and includes a four note theme similar in character to Shostakovich’s D, Es, C, H motive he used to represent his initials in many of his works including the eighth string quartet. This four-note theme was first used the Wery’s Piano Sonata in C. The second theme also centers on a four-note cell taken from the composer’s Letters from Cohoes for chamber ensemble and baritone. The movement is dominated by a dark viola cadenza and ends in doubt and uncertainty.

The third movement is a five-part variation rondo. Like the other movements the apparent tonality of the movement is governed by the manipulation of pitch class sets not by traditional functional harmonies. The episodes between the statements of the refrain are derived from the earlier movements of the piece. The four-note theme of the second movement creates the basis for the coda.

Brett L. Wery’s String Quartet was written for the Hyperion String Quartet and was awarded the GRAND PRIZE in the 2021 Classic Pure Vienna International Music Competition in Vienna, Austria.