String Quartet No. 2

The cello plays the theme, marked solo and cantab. ed espressivo, in A major and 3/4, over a rocking syncopated accompaniment in the second violin and viola. The first violin rests. The cello part lies high, on ledger lines above the bass staff.

At letter A the first violin enters high in its range, marked p cant. e espress., while the cello holds dotted minims marked p, one to a bar.

Borodin wrote the quartet in the summer of 1881 and dedicated it to his wife, Ekaterina. He had just returned from a German tour that included Heidelberg, where they had met in 1861.

At letter B the tempo changes to a tempo più mosso, with accents in the cello part. David Fanning’s note says the faster central section lets the second violin join in a dialogue on rising scales.

In 1953 Robert Wright and George Forrest used this movement’s main theme for the song “And This Is My Beloved” in Kismet. The second theme of the Scherzo became “Baubles, Bangles and Beads”.

At letter C the cello plays a cantabile line marked p. A crescendo follows, marked sempre cresc., through f risoluto to ff with trills.

At letter D the opening tempo returns and the cello plays the theme again, fp, marked cant. espressivo.

At letter E the cello plays pizzicato, marked mf, in repeated three-note figures that run for some twenty bars.

At letter F the cello returns to the bow with held notes marked p, and the pizzicato figures stop.

At letter G the cello rises in a last statement marked fp espress. e cantab.

The last phrase is marked dim. perdendosi, and the movement ends on a held note under a pause.