Phantasy Quartet Op.2, for oboe and strings (1932)
Andante alla Marcia – Allegro giusto – Andante – Andante alla marcia
While the Britten asserted his individuality and self-confidence with an Op. 1 inspired by the most modern European trends, his Op. 2 followed in a more established English tradition. The Phantasy Quartet (1932) is a late product of a particular genre of English chamber music founded by the wealthy amateur violinist W.W. Cobbett, who had in 1905 instituted a composer’s competition designed to revive the 17th Century form of the single-movement "Fantasia". Howells, Vaughan Williams, Stanford, and – significantly – John Ireland and Frank Bridge had all at various times won the Cobbett competition. Britten’s work displays the typical single-movement, slow – fast - slow layout of the Phantasy genre, and hints occasionally at the English Pastoral style characteristic of the Cobbett composers in general and the early music of Britten’s mentor Bridge in particular. Yet the 19-year old composer subverts expectation by writing an extended developmental section, the second Andante, in which the oboe is completely silent; and shows throughout the work the same preoccupation with exploring and exploiting specific intervals which had been such a feature of the Sinfonietta – in this case the minor third, and fifth, both heard prominently in the opening Andante alla Marcia. The Phantasy Quartet was premiered in London in 1934, swiftly receiving a second performance at the Florence ISCM festival. It is dedicated to Leon Goossens.
Richard Bratby 2001
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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