String Quartet No.6 H.312 – Study Score

An informative preface and critical commentary by Ales Brezina and Ivan Straus (Cz / Ger / Engl / Fr) – A new, practical edition at the forefront of Martinu scholarship – All existing sources consulted.

The StringQuartet no. 6 by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) represents a distinct step on the journey which the composer characterised as his development from geometry to fantasy and for which the almost continuous use of theprinciple of developing variations, restless harmonic development, the pulsation of minute rhythmic values and inventive work with sound are characteristic.

The quartet, which was written in New York in the autumn of1946,constitutes the beginning of the composer’s later works, in which moods freely overflow regardless of any predefined formal layout. The editors of the new edition (based on the composer’s autograph) have carefully removed allof the problematic and somewhat arbitrary editorial intervention in the sole existing edition dating from 1950 (actually 1955).

With its urtext edition of the 6th quartet, Editio Bareneriter Praha has continued in itsseries of new publications of works by Bohuslav Martinu – quartets nos. 4 and 5 have already been published for this instrumental line-up.