Cinq Valses Rustiques for String Quartet

The Cinq Valses Rustiques was written to celebrate the wedding of Dane Johansen and Leslie La Fleur on June, 17, 2018 at the Mohican southwest of Cleveland, Ohio. Dane has an association with the composer for the past 6 years and has premiered the composer’s Elegie Pathetique for Cello and Piano and Chaccone for String Quartet in Grass Valley, California.

The waltzes are a set of five continuous short pieces similar to the Waltzes for Piano of Johannes Brahms. Since the wedding is at the Mohican Lodge Grand Wedding Barn the title “Cinq Valses Rustiques” seemed appropriate to the setting. The waltzes are characterized by a recurring 6 note motif consisting of a lower neighbor figuration leading to a nota cambiata.

The first waltz begins with the 6 note motif leading to the main melody in the first violin with an echoing counterpoint in the cello, concluding with a brief minuet statement in the other strings before recapitulating the main melody.

The second waltz expands on the melody in the key of C major.

The third waltz consists of a falling sequence in a quickening tempo exploring the keys of F Major, G Major, and d minor.

The fourth waltz is a lyrical version of the underlying melody in the key of G Major which elides into the key of B minor for the Slovenian Folk Song.

The fifth waltz is an adaption of a Folk Song from the Eastern region of Slovenia which the composer heard sung by a mezzo-soprano at the American Slovenian Education Foundation banquet in January, 2018. The folk tune is characterized by a gypsy melody and is similar to Dvorak’s “Songs my Mother Taught Me”. This waltz states the melody in the cello which is joined by the first violin in a dialogue. The song has been used at Slovenian country weddings and the words are as follows:

Slovenian (Wedding) Folk Song

Zreilo je žito (The Grain is Ripe)
Zrejlo je žito, je žuta slama, (The grain is ripe, the straw is yellow,)
Žalostna dekla, kaj nimaš luboga. (Sad girl why don’t you have a beloved,)
E, sedi ta, sedi lastvkca ti, (Sit down you swallow next to me,)
Nasloni se luba, na mo pleča ti. (Rest my dear on my shoulders.)

Zrejlo je žito, je žuta slama, (The grain is ripe the straw is yellow,)
Zrejlo je zelje, žuto je lišce. (The cabbage is ripe, the leaves are yellow,)
Zrejla je pšenica, žuta je slama, (The wheat is ripe, the straw is yellow,)
Zrejla je pšenica, žuta je slama. (The wheat is ripe, the straw is yellow.)

The composition was mastered in the Para-Sight Records digital studios of Paul Krashaaur in Grass Valley, California, employing the Vienna String samples.

The work was composed from 23 March 2018 through 24 April 2018.

The string quartet was performed at Dane and Leslie’s wedding on June 17,2018 at the Mohican with members of the Cleveland Symphony strings performing.

A solo piano arrangement of this work is published under Opus 42a.