Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
00:00 Allegro ma non troppo
08:45 Vivace
12:39 Andante espressivo
16:31 Larghetto
Performed by the Chilingirian Quartet (Levon Chilingirian, violin 1; Charles Sewart, violin 2; Asdis Valdimarsdottir, viola; Philip de Groote, cello)
John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948) was a Scottish composer and educator, most notable for his decades-long tenure teaching composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As a composer, McEwen was influenced by Scottish folk music as well as many prevailing trends in European music at the turn of the century, including various post-Wagnerian composers, Impressionism, and the music of Scriabin.
Written in 1905, McEwen's fourth string quartet is one of his most innovative in the genre. Per the program notes of the recording, "the Allegro ma non troppo has echoes of early Bartók and the scherzo is an agitated version of the coda in the finale of Beethoven’s Op. 127. The last two movements are very Scottish in character; a sad lament full of rich chromatic harmonies preceding a highspirited romp."
The score can be found on McEwen's IMSLP page under "String Quartet No.4": imslp.org/wiki/Category:McEwen,_John_Blackwood
00:00 Allegro ma non troppo
08:45 Vivace
12:39 Andante espressivo
16:31 Larghetto
Performed by the Chilingirian Quartet (Levon Chilingirian, violin 1; Charles Sewart, violin 2; Asdis Valdimarsdottir, viola; Philip de Groote, cello)
John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948) was a Scottish composer and educator, most notable for his decades-long tenure teaching composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As a composer, McEwen was influenced by Scottish folk music as well as many prevailing trends in European music at the turn of the century, including various post-Wagnerian composers, Impressionism, and the music of Scriabin.
Written in 1905, McEwen's fourth string quartet is one of his most innovative in the genre. Per the program notes of the recording, "the Allegro ma non troppo has echoes of early Bartók and the scherzo is an agitated version of the coda in the finale of Beethoven’s Op. 127. The last two movements are very Scottish in character; a sad lament full of rich chromatic harmonies preceding a highspirited romp."
The score can be found on McEwen's IMSLP page under "String Quartet No.4": imslp.org/wiki/Category:McEwen,_John_Blackwood
