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((short description|Composition for string quartet by Benjamin Britten))
((use British English|date=March 2016))
((use dmy dates|date=March 2016))
((Infobox musical composition
| name                = String Quartet
| subtitle            = No. 2
| composer            = [[Benjamin Britten]]
| image               = Benjamin Britten, London Records 1968 publicity photo for Wikipedia crop.jpg
| caption             = Britten in the mid-1960s
| key                 = 
| opus                = 36
| dedication          = Mrs J. L. Behrend
| composed            = ((Start date|1945))
| premiere_date       = ((Start date|1945|11|21|df=y))
| premiere_location   = [[Wigmore Hall]], London 
| premiere_performers = [[Zorian Quartet]]
))
'''String Quartet No. 2''' in C major, [[Opus number|Op.]] 36, by English composer [[Benjamin Britten]], was written in 1945. It was composed in [[Snape, Suffolk]] and London, and completed on 14 October. The first performance was by the [[Zorian Quartet]] in the [[Wigmore Hall]], London on 21 November 1945, in a concert to mark the exact 250th anniversary of the death of English composer [[Henry Purcell]] (1659((ndash))95). The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Mary ("Mrs J. L.") Behrend, a patron of the arts; Britten donated most of his fee towards famine relief in India.

The Zorian Quartet made the first recording of the work, in October 1946. It occupies seven sides of a four-disc [[78rpm]] album. On the eighth side is Purcell's ''[[Fantasia upon One Note]]'' Z.745, with Britten playing the sustained middle C [[drone (music)|drone]] on second [[viola]]; the only recording on which he played viola, his favourite string instrument.<ref name=Carpenter>((cite book |title=Benjamin Britten: A Biography |first=Humphrey |last=Carpenter |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |pages=228((ndash))232, 400 |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |year=1992 |isbn=0-571-14324-5 ))</ref><ref name=Keller>((cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OCOvvu0O1wC&q=britten+string+quartet+no+2+zorian+quartet&pg=PA133 |title=Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide |first=James M. |last=Keller |pages=133–135 |date=10 December 2010 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195382532 |accessdate=6 March 2016 ))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=https://goodmorningbritten.wordpress.com/2013/10/12/listening-to-britten-string-quartet-no-2-in-c-major-op-36/ |title=Listening to Britten – String Quartet no.2 in C major, Op.36 |first=Brian |last=Hogwood |date=12 October 2013 |accessdate=6 March 2016 ))</ref>

Broadcaster and classical music critic [[John Amis]] (1922((ndash))2013), husband of Olive Zorian 1948((ndash))55, recalled of the first rehearsals:((blockquote|Ben[jamin Britten] and me had to sit on the floor in me and my wife’s flat following the score of his second string quartet in rehearsals because me and my wife only had four chairs and the quartet had to use them.<ref>((cite web |url=http://johnamismusic.blogspot.co.uk/ |title=John Amis talks about Benjamin Britten at Orpington Recorded Music Society |first=Jon |last=Jacob |date=23 April 2013 |accessdate=17 March 2016))</ref> ))<!--No date error here. First rehearsals 1945. Married 1948.-->

== Structure ==
The [[String quartet|quartet]] is in three [[Movement (music)|movement]]s:
# "''Allegro calmo, senza rigore''"
# "''Vivace''"
# "[[Chacony]]: ''sostenuto''"

The first movement is in a kind of [[sonata form]], unusual in that the first and second subjects ([[subject (music)|theme]]s) give rise to a third subject, all involving the interval of a [[Tenth (music)|tenth]].

The second movement has been described as "night music", but is very different in character to that of the [[Night music (Bartók)|night music]] of [[Béla Bartók]]. All four instruments play with [[Mute (music)|mute]]s.

The third movement is longer than the other two movements combined. Its title "Chacony" refers back to Purcell, who used that name for the musical form more often called chaconne or passacaglia. It consists of a theme (a nine-bar unit) and 21 variations, divided into four sections by solo [[cadenza]]s for the cello, viola and first violin. In a programme note for the premiere, Britten wrote: "The sections may be said to review the theme from (a) harmonic, (b) rhythmic, (c) melodic, and (d) formal aspects".<ref name=Keller /><ref name=Evans>((cite book |title=The Music of Benjamin Britten |first=Peter |last=Evans |author-link=Peter Evans (musicologist) |pages=294((ndash))300 |publisher=[[J. M. Dent|J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.]] |location=London, Melbourne and Toronto |year=1979 |isbn=0-460-04350-1 ))</ref><ref>((cite web |url=http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britten-and-the-string-quartet-a-classical-impulse-string-quartet-no2 |title=Britten and the String Quartet: A Classical Impulse((ndash))String Quartet No.2 |website=[[Gresham College]] |first=Roger |last=Parker |author-link=Roger Parker |date=23 May 2013 |accessdate=6 March 2015 ))</ref>

A typical performance takes about 28((ndash))32 minutes.<ref name=Evans /><ref>((AllMusic |class=composition |id=string-quartet-no-2-in-c-major-op-36-mc0002380508 |label=Benjamin Britten: ''String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36'' |first=Joseph |last=Stevenson |accessdate=6 March 2016))</ref>

== Recordings ==
((dynamic list|date=March 2016))
* 1946((snd))[[Zorian Quartet]], [[His Master's Voice]] 78rpm <small>C.3539</small><ref>((cite web
|url=http://charm.cchcdn.net/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&parameterSel_0=performer&parameterKey_0=artist_045417&parameterKeyTxt_0=Zorian%20String%20Quartet |website=[[Arts and Humanities Research Council]] |title=Search Results for Zorian String Quartet |accessdate=6 March 2016 ))</ref>
* 1963((snd))[[Amadeus Quartet]], [[Argo Records (UK)|Argo]] <small>ZRG 5372</small><ref>((discogs release |release=8758844 |name=Benjamin Britten, P. Racine Fricker*, Amadeus-Quartett – String Quartets - Benjamin Britten / P. Racine Fricker ))</ref>
* 1965((snd))[[Fidelio Quartet]], [[Pye Golden Guinea Records]] LP <small>GSGC I4025</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=5856032 |name= Britten, Fidelio Quartet((snd))String Quartets ))</ref>
* 1971((snd))[[Janáček Quartet]], [[Supraphon]] <small>SUA ST 50960</small><ref>((discogs release |release=2414414 |name=Benjamin Britten((snd))Vítĕzslav Hanus, Janáček Quartet((snd))Metamorphoses / Fantasy For Oboe / String Quartet ))</ref>
* 1972((snd))[[Allegri Quartet]], [[Decca Records|Decca]] LP <small>SXL 6564</small><ref>((discogs master |class=album |master=622349 |name=Britten, Allegri String Quartet((snd))String Quartets ))</ref>
* 1978((snd))[[Amadeus Quartet]], Decca LP <small>SXL 6893</small>;<ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=6404981 |name=Britten, Amadeus String Quartet((snd))String Quartets 2 & 3 ))</ref> [[remastered]] 1990 [[London Records]] CD <small>425 715-2</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=2552387 |name=Britten, Amadeus Quartet((snd))String Quartets 2 & 3, Sinfonietta ))</ref>
* 1981((snd))[[Alberni Quartet]], [[CRD Records]] LP <small>CRD 1095</small>; rereleased 1989, CRD Records CD <small>CRD 3395</small><ref>((discogs master |class=album |master=878858 |name=Benjamin Britten: The Alberni String Quartet((snd))String Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 ))</ref>
* 1984((snd))[[Sequoia Quartet]], Music & Arts CD <small>CD-740 SKU: 017685074028</small>
* 1986((snd))[[Endellion Quartet]], His Master's Voice LP <small>E 2705021/31/41</small><ref>((discogs master |class=album |master=950403 |name=Benjamin Britten((snd))Endellion String Quartet((snd))Complete Music For String Quartet (String Quartets Nos.1-3((dot))String Quartet In D((dot))Rhapsody((dot))Phantasy For String Quartet((dot))Phantasy For Oboe And String Trio((dot))Quartettino((dot))Elegy For Solo Viola((dot))Three Divertimenti((dot))Alla Marcia) ))</ref>* 1990((snd))[[Britten Quartet]]<ref>((AllMusic |class=album |id=britten-the-string-quartets-no2-no3-mw0001352607 |label=Britten: The String Quartets No.2 & No.3 |accessdate=2 February 2016 ))</ref>
* 1992((snd))[[Wihan Quartet]], Clara CD <small>57 013-2</small> / Popron <small>57 013-2</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=7452780 |name= Wihan Quartet ((snd))Ravel((snd))Britten ))</ref>
* 1998((snd))[[Maggini Quartet]], [[Naxos Records|Naxos]] CD <small>8.553883</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=2646386 |name=Britten((snd))Maggini String Quartet((snd))String Quartets Vol. 1 ))</ref>
* 1998((snd))[[Sorrel Quartet]], [[Chandos Records|Chandos]] CD <small>CHAN 9664</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=3756216 |name=Britten((snd))Sorrel Quartet((snd))String Quartets((snd))N° 2 In C Major, In F Major (Premiere Recording), In D Major ))</ref>
* 2002((snd))[[Brodsky Quartet]], [[Challenge Records (1994)|Challenge]] CD <small>CC 72099</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=11436974 |name=Britten, Brodsky Quartet((snd))Britten String Quartets 2 & 3))</ref>
* 2005((snd))[[Belcea Quartet]], [[EMI Classics]] CD <small>7243 5 57968 2 0</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=4596229 |name=Britten((snd))Belcea Quartet((snd))String Quartets 1, 2 & 3; 3 Divertimenti ))</ref>
* 2010 ((snd)) Elias String Quartet, Sonimage SON 10903 - String Quartets Nos 2 & 3; Three Divertimenti for string quartet
* 2013((snd))[[Takács Quartet]], [[Hyperion Records|Hyperion]] CD <small>CDA68004 </small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=5215770 |name=Britten, Takács Quartet((snd))String Quartets 1, 2 & 3 ))</ref>
* 2017((snd))[[Emerson String Quartet]], [[Decca Records|Decca]] CD <small>B0026509-02</small><ref>((discogs release |class=album |release=11461058 |name=Britten, Emerson String Quartet((snd))Music Of Britten And Purcell: Chaconnes And Fantasias))</ref>

== References ==
((Reflist|2))

== External links ==
* ((YouTube |id=ryxX6TNTJek |title=Benjamin Britten: String Quartet No.2 in C major((snd))Professor Roger Parker )). A [[musicological]] lecture by [[Roger Parker]] followed by a performance by the [[Badke Quartet]], at [[Gresham College]], London in 2013

((Benjamin Britten))
((Portalbar|Classical Music))
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[[Category:1945 compositions]]
[[Category:String quartets by Benjamin Britten|1945]]
[[Category:Compositions in C major|String quartet Britten 2]]

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