The Kreutzer Sonata & Intimate Letters

The idea of arranging Janacek's two string quartets for string orchestra has implicated two different approaches for me. The first is timbral: while the quartets' ever-changing dramatics make it challenging to ''resonate'' with the solo instruments in a string quartet, the collective sound of the orchestra adds a new dimension to the music. The other approach was to incorporate Leo Tolstoy's novella The Kreutzer Sonata into Janacek's music of the same name, and thereby introduce a new form of drama. In his quartet, Janacek does not follow the storyline of Tolstoy's novella as closely as Arnold Schoenberg once did with his musical setting of Richard Dehmel's poem, Verklarte Nacht. However Janacek's writing brings on intense emotions with strong linguistic and theatrical gestures, which, in my opinion, would be further reinforced in direct connection with the novella. Tentatively, we introduced a selection of quotes from the novella in our concerts and this eventually led t

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STRING QUARTET NO 1, THE KREUTZER SONATA
I. Adagio – Con moto
 
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THE KREUTZER SONATA – Dramatisation in English
 
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THE KREUTZER SONATA – Dramatisation in Norwegian
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 1, THE KREUTZER SONATA
II. Con moto
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 1, THE KREUTZER SONATA
III. Con moto – Vivace – Andante – Tempo I
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 1, THE KREUTZER SONATA
IV. Con moto – Adagio – Più mosso
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 2, INTIMATE LETTERS
I. Andante – Con Moto – Allegro
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 2, INTIMATE LETTERS
II. Adagio – Vivace – Andante – Presto – Allegro – Vivo – Adagio
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 2, INTIMATE LETTERS
III. Moderato – Adagio – Allegro
 
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STRING QUARTET NO 2, INTIMATE LETTERS
IV. Allegro – Andante – Con Moto – Adagio – Tempo I
 
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