String Quartet No. 5 (Hill)

String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major "The Allies", Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ5,^[1] was completed by Alfred Hill on 24 June 1920 in Sydney (as indicated in the manuscript).^[2]^[3] It is dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen^[2]^[3] (the first director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium), whose quartet gave the first public performance of the composition on 2 March 1921.^[4] The music of the quartet presents four nations who were allies during World War I. It was subsequently arranged by Hill for string orchestra as his Symphony No. 11 "The Four Nations".^[5] The approximate duration of the quartet is 29–33 minutes,^[6] which makes it one of the most substantial quartets composed by Hill.

Structure

The quartet is in four movements,^[7] each presenting a nation: France, USA, Italy, and Great Britain.^[8]

I. Artistic. Allegro risoluto — Andantino — Tranquillo (E-flat major)

II. Syncopated. Intermezzo. Allegretto moderato (G minor)

III. Romantic. Romance. Andantino (G major)

IV. Nautical. Finale. Allegretto (E-flat major)

Alfred Hill. String Quartet No.5 in E♭. Narara: Stiles Music Publications, 2007 (pub. number S72-2006; ISMN 979-0-720029-75-7)

(rec. 1994) Australian String Quartet (Hennessy, Lea, Crellin, Laurs) — (1997) Marco Polo 8.223746.
(rec. 2007) Dominion String Quartet (Gezentsvey, Pucher, Maurice, Chickering) – (2009) Naxos Records 8.572446.

^ Allan Stiles. A Catalogue of the Music of Alfred Hill
^ ^a ^b Library catalogue entry for the manuscript score and parts
^ ^a ^b Stephen Pleskun (17 January 2012). A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS AND THEIR COMPOSITIONS: (VOLUME 1: 1901–1954). Xlibris Corporation. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-4653-8226-9.
^ Stephen Pleskun (17 January 2012). A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS AND THEIR COMPOSITIONS: (VOLUME 1: 1901–1954). Xlibris Corporation. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-4653-8226-9.
^ Donald Maurice. Booklet notes to Naxos 8.572446
^ The Naxos recording lasts 29:19, while Stiles in his edition supposes 33 minutes.
^ Stiles Music Publications
^ The names of individual movements are given as printed in the Naxos booklet. The tempo markings are taken from the Stiles edition.

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