004. Iosif Andriasov: String Quartet, Op. 1.

Iosif Andriasov: String Quartet, Op. 1 Music Score. 

Iosif Andriasov composed his String Quartet for Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Opus 1, in 1954, when he was 21 years old. The String Quartet is dedicated to Nelli Andriasova (Andriassian), the composer’s sister.

Iosif Andriasov’s String Quartet is a “youthful” composition. Its “hero” is a young man who enters the world full of hopes. This music radiates with energy and happiness. There are pages of the dreamy, inspired lyricism, displaying the romantic nature of the composer; episodes with tragic notes, expressing deep compassion for people, revealing the altruistic essence of the composer’s personality, and genre scenes, based on folk dances. This composition is marked by an exquisite treatment of folk material, a deep understanding of string instruments (I. Andriasov was a violinist), melodic richness, expressive harmonies, and a well-balanced form with equilibrium of meditative and dancing episodes, and clear and transparent texture.

From the book: “Essays on the Music of Iosif Andriasov.” Written by Marta Andriasova (Marina Kudryashova).