Cuarteto No. 1 - Movement I.
Francisco Pulgar VidalPiece Duration: 7:04
About this Piece
(Movement I. is 0:00-7:04)
Program Note: Francisco Pulgar Vidal wrote his String Quartet No. 1 in 1953. The composition won the Luis Duncker Lavalle National Prize for the Promotion of Culture.
Sheet Music: https://drive.google.com/file/d/111tJ88EmKZeudb-z-lszcgSZKh4WHlSV/view
(Source: Unidad de Bibliotecas - Universidad Nacional de Música)
Mixed Meter / Form: A short interlude in mixed-meter appears four times, acting like goalposts for each new section of the piece! (See Notable Passages Below)
- Look through the music for all four interludes at this link
- Identify: Does the quartet begin on Beat 1, or Beat 2 of the 2/4 bar?
- Identify each time signature change
- Compare: Which interlude breaks the pattern of Three 2/4 bars, followed by Three 3/4 bars?
(Interlude 1, 2, 3, or 4?)
Form Map: (See Notable Passages Below)
0:00 - Interlude
0:08 - First Theme
1:47 - Interlude
1:55 - Second Theme
3:08 - Second Theme
4:21 - Interlude
4:27 - First Theme
6:16 - Interlude
6:24 - First Theme
Notable Passages
Description:
First Interlude
(All four interludes compiled here)
Keywords: Form - Misc.
Description:
The opening uses many different articulations, with quick and sudden changes!
Try to identify the different types of articulation you hear (accents, trills, legato, pizzicato, staccato).
Sheet Music PDF Pg 1-3, Beginning to Rehearsal 2
Keywords: Articulation - Misc.
Description:
The First Theme appears using the G Dorian mode! [G A Bb C D E F G]
We hear this theme in the first violin, cello, and second violin!
Sheet Music PDF Pg 1, Second System to Rehearsal 2
Keywords: Modal
Description:
The First Theme modulates to the D Dorian mode! [D E F G A B C D]
Soon after, the music modulates to a different mode: D Mixolydian! [D E F# G A B C D]
Sheet Music Pg 5 (PDF Pg 3) Rehearsal 2 to Rehearsal 4
Keywords: Modal , Modulation - Composition Technique , Modulation - Harmony
Description:
The music briefly modulates to E Minor, before returning to G Dorian as the First Theme comes to a close!
The lower three instruments also trill between many different notes. Use the sheet music to find them all!
Sheet Music Pg 6 (PDF Pg 4) Rehearsal 4 to Rehearsal 6
Keywords: Modulation - Composition Technique , Modulation - Harmony , Trill - Articulation , Trill - Melody
Description:
Second Interlude, transposed up a whole step from the first
(All four interludes compiled here)
Keywords: Form - Misc.
Description:
The Second Theme is played using the D Dorian Mode! [D E F G A B C D]
Sheet Music Pg 8 (PDF Pg 6) Rehearsal 7 to Rehearsal 8
Keywords: Modal
Description:
The music develops using chromatic accompaniment and quicker modulations. Soon the quartet's range climbs higher and higher!
Sheet Music Pg 9 (PDF Pg 7) Rehearsal 8 to Rehearsal 10. Composers: Note the Clef Changes!
Keywords: Range - Composition Technique , Range - Expressive Elements , Range - Melody , Range - Texture
Description:
The Second Theme returns and tries again, after fizzling out earlier!
Sheet Music Pg 11 (PDF Pg 9) Bottom System to Rehearsal 11
Keywords: Form - Misc.
Description:
A wave of jittering tremolos fill the musical texture!
Sheet Music Pg 13 (PDF Pg 11) Rehearsal 11
Keywords: Tremolo - Articulation , Tremolo - Expressive Elements
Description:
The quartet plays using pizzicato briefly, to close out this section of the music!
Sheet Music Pg 13 (PDF Pg 11) Bottom System to Rehearsal 13
Keywords: Pizzicato
Description:
Third Interlude, in the same key as the first
(All four interludes compiled here)
Keywords: Form - Misc.
Description:
The First Theme returns, once again using the G Dorian mode! [G A Bb C D E F G]
Sheet Music Pg 15-16 (PDF Pg 13-14)
Keywords: Modal
Description:
A suspenseful new note is played in the first violin [B Natural]! This creates a prolonged G dominant 7 chord [G B D F]
The entire quartet climbs in range, and the music becomes more chromatic and suspenseful!
Sheet Music Pg 17 (PDF Pg 15). Composers: Note the Clef Changes!
Keywords: Range - Composition Technique , Range - Expressive Elements , Range - Melody , Range - Texture
Description:
More and more notes are played on each beat!
First there are eighth notes, then triplets, then sixteenths! This pattern happens twice.
Sheet Music Pg 18-19 (PDF Pg 16-17), start on the 3rd System
Keywords: Rhythmic Duration , Triplet
Description:
Fourth Interlude, transposed down a fourth
(All four interludes compiled here)
Keywords: Form - Misc. , Mixed Meter , Modulation - Composition Technique
Description:
To end the movement, the First Theme returns one final time, this time played a fourth lower!
Sheet Music Pg 20-21 (PDF Pg 18-19)
Keywords: Modulation - Composition Technique