Ian Davis - String quartet no.2, A flat major

I. Allegro ma non troppo
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II. Adagio
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III. Allegro
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N.B. Order of composition: I, III, II. Finale as a somehow deranged/determined amalgum of the first two movements, combining themes, rhythms and tonal ideas. Repeated notes stab away even in the major key, the opening bars are a developed inversion of those that open the second movement, harmonies clash through triple/quadruple rhythmic magnetism, calmer themes from other movements have little strength and only disrupt the flow further; from a beginning of C major 4/4 the flux is eventually resolved into Ab 3/4 (the home key/metre of the work) which grows stronger until the beginning of a recap from the opening of the movement, which is followed by a merry fugue based on a short theme from the first movement.

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