Intimate Miniatures

Intimate Miniatures
Suite by Lars-Erik Larsson
The composer
Native nameIntima miniatyrer
Opus20
Composed1938 (1938)
PublisherGehrmans Musikförlag [sv] (1962)
DurationApprox. 15 minutes[1]
Movements4
Premiere
Date20 November 1938 (1938-11-20)
LocationStockholm, Sweden
PerformersStockholm Quartet [sv]

Intimate Miniatures (in Swedish: Intima miniatyrer), Op. 20, is a four-movement suite for string quartet written in 1938 by the Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson. Originally, the pieces were part of a longer, six-movement "lyrical suite" ("lyrisk svit") called Late Autumn Leaves (Senhöstblad), which Larsson had written to accompany a recitation of poems about fall by the Swedish writer Ola Hansson.

The Stockholm Quartet [sv] premiered Late Autumn Leaves on 20 November 1938, with the Swedish actor Ivar Kåge as narrator; the performers were: Ernst Törnqvist [sv] and Folke Reinholdson (violins), John Hylbom (viola), and Carl Christiansen [sv] (cello).

The Prim Quartet (Primkvartetten) premiered Intimate Miniatures at the Fylkingen venue in Stockholm,[2] Sweden, on 25 October 1940.[3]

Structure

Ola Hansson

The movements of Late Autumn Leaves (Senhöstblad) are as follows; † = Not included in Intimate Miniatures[4]

  1. Allegro moderato
  2. Allegretto†
  3. Andante sostenuto
  4. Andantino—Allegro moderato—Andantino†
  5. Allegro
  6. Adagio

The movements of Intimate Miniatures are as follows:

  1. Adagio
  2. Allegro moderato
  3. Andante sostenuto
  4. Allegro

Note that Larsson reordered the movements.

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Intimate Miniatures:

Ensemble First violin Second violin Viola Cello Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
Helsingborg Quartet Åsa Rudner Bengt-Erik Norlén Bengt Ersson Göran Lindström 1986 13:00 Rosengård Church [sv] Big Ben Phonogram
[b]
Stenhammar Quartet Peter Olofsson Per Öman Tony Bauer Mats Olofsson 2008 13:33[c] Swedish Radio Studio 2 Daphne
[d]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes
  1. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  2. ^ Helsingborg–Big Ben (611 872–003) 1987
  3. ^ In 2008, the Stenhammar Quartet made the world premiere studio recording of the complete six-movement Late Autumn Leaves (Senhöstblad), which lasts 21:13.[4]
  4. ^ Stenhammar–Daphne (DAPHNE 1035) 2008
References
  1. ^ Gehrmans Musikförlag.
  2. ^ Friedner 2008, p. 5.
  3. ^ Swedish Musical Heritage 2022.
  4. ^ a b Friedner 2008, p. 3.
Sources
  • "Intima miniatyrer för stråkkvartett" [Intimate Miniatures for string quartet]. gehrmans.se. Gehrmans Musikförlag. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  • "Intima miniatyrer för stråkkvartett" [Intimate Miniatures for string quartet]. swedishmusicalheritage.com. The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  • Friedner, Calle (2008). Lars-Erik Larsson: String Quartets (CD booklet). Translated by Tanner, Roger. Stenhammar Quartet. Daphne. p. 4–9. DAPHNE 1035. OCLC 840087298
  • Sjöberg, Paul-Christian (1987). Lars-Erik Larsson: String Quartets (CD booklet). Translated by Posselwhite, Eric. Helsingborgs Quartet. Big Ben Phonogram Company. p. 2–4. 611 872–003. OCLC 18259818