Three Divertimenti for string quartet (1936)
March
Waltz
Burlesque
The Three Divertimenti for string quartet also date from Britten’s time at the Royal College of Music, where they began life in 1933 as a suite for quartet entitled Alla Quartetto Serioso. The work was intended as a musical portrait of the composer’s schoolfriend David Layton, who had also been the subject of one of two "Sketches" for strings written in the summer before Britten started at the RCM. Although he took time three years later to rework the piece into the Three Divertimenti, it was not published in Britten’s lifetime, although it is easy to see how the three miniatures anticipate, through their craftsmanship and keen sense of parody, Britten’s first major international success - the Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10, of 1937.
Richard Bratby 2001
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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