In the spring of 1862, during his tuition by Otto Kitzler, Bruckner composed two scherzi for string quartet in F major and G minor. Thereafter, between 28 July and 7 August 1862, he composed the String Quartet in C minor, as a preliminary to exercises in orchestration. The manuscript of the Quartet was found on pp. 165–196 of the Kitzler-Studienbuch. A week after completing the composition, Kitzler tasked Bruckner with writing a Rondo in größerer Form. The 40-bars longer piece, which has the same key, metre and formal structure as the first Rondo, can, therefore, be regarded as an alternative to the first Rondo. The Quartet was not issued during Bruckner's life, since it concerned a sample of capability during his study period at Kitzler. Bruckner did not bequeath a score of it as he did for the later Four Orchestral Pieces. The Kitzler-Studienbuch was wound up in the legacy of Bruckner's friend Josef Schalk in Munich, in which the Quartet was discovered in 1950 by the Koeckert Quartet. The Koeckert Quartet premiered the Quartet on 15 February 1951 in a Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor broadcast, and performed it on 8 March 1951 in a concert in Hamburg.
Duration: 19 to 24 minutes. Unlike his later works, Bruckner gave few indications as to phrasing, while dynamics appear only at a few key points. Rudolf Koeckert allowed Leopold Nowak to put his group's phrasing and dynamics into the Gesamtausgabe parts. However, the Gesamtausgabe score contains only those markings in Bruckner's hand. The String Quartet is a settlement with classical and early romantic examples. The from the beginning polyphonic imprint refers back to Bruckner's earlier exercises. The first movement, in traditional sonata form, is with audacious modulations in the development. The exposition is marked for repeat; the only other Bruckner work with such a repeat is the Study Symphony.
The Andante, in three parts with modified reprise, mirrors Beethoven's choice of key for a slow movement after a C minor Allegro, but having the central section in the parallel minor is something Bruckner never does again.
The Trio of the Scherzo is in Ländler form. Derek Watson finds that the Trio "has a Schubertian, freshly bucolic charm."
The Rondo is in ABACABA form and has virtuoso accents. The B theme appears first in E-flat major and later in C major, and the last turn of the A theme is highly ornamented. One can already see connections to later Bruckner works in the key, in several harmonic phrases and theme patterns, as well as the use of Ländler motives.
Selected discography
There are about 10 recordings of the String Quartet. The first recording was by the Keller Quartett in 1962. Excellent recordings are according to Hans Roelofs i.a. those by the Koeckert Quartett, L'Archibudelli, the Fine Arts Quartet and the Zehetmair Streichquartett. Where the Koeckert Quartet actually disregarded the few dynamics markings Bruckner gave, the Fine Arts Quartet obeys Bruckner's markings but mostly ignores Koeckert's.
Koeckert Quartett. Studio recording of 1974 put on compiling CD: Karna Musik Live KA-143M
