String Quartet - F Major
The archive consists of:
M-H 3/2-1—A full score of movements 1-3.
M-H 3/2-2—A full score of the fourth movement.
M-H 3/2-3—Parts.
M-H 3/2-4—Fragment.
The archive of the Quartett in F is contained within a manila folder 27cm x 35.5cm inside a manila envelope 40cm x 30.5cm. The outer envelope is inscribed in pen: ‘Marshall Hall, Quartet in F, 2 violins, viola and cello. Score and Parts (complete).c’ The inner folder is inscribed in pencil: ‘Quartet movement, F Major. marked IV’ and, crossed out, ‘Score only.’
Holdings
- M-H 3/2-1
A full score of 3 movements of the Quartett in F Major. 12-stave score paper, 27cm x 33.75cm. Composer’s autograph score. Folded score paper, not bound. Once held together by adhesive tape. Black inked score. 50 paginations in 25 sheets. Imprinted ‘Bell Brand No.3a’ under a bell emblem. The first recto is headed: ‘Quartett for 2 Violins, viola and violoncello.’ It is signed by the composer at the right upper edge in pen. Under this in purple pencil is the address: ‘12 Yarra Street Hawthorn.’
The page is then marked: ‘I. Allegretto’, indicating the start of the first movement, which ends at p.25 where it is signed: ‘G.W.L. Marshall-Hall.’ The word ‘attacca’ has been added in pencil at the bottom of the page; p.26 is blank. The second movement begins at p.27 which is headed: ‘II. Adagio molto sostenuto, con sentimento.’ The rest of the inscription is pencilled out, but formerly read ‘e sottigliezzia di suono.’ Above the notation in pencil words are inscribed from p.27 to p.32. These are: ‘Once [replaced by an overwritten O], once again to hear thee say I love thee. Once, once again to read it in thine eyes, That here in quiet night our souls might flow, In kisses forth [?] and music with the night air that night.’ Thereafter, several words are not decipherable, but no longer occur solely above the score but through it at pp.28-29. At pp.30-31 the words occur sporadically. Decipherable fragments are:
p.28: ‘That we might die …’, ‘Thou in my arms … a cloud’
p.29: ‘but we might cease … evenings …’
p.30: ‘with us pain’The second movement ends at p.40, where it is signed: ‘G W.L. Marshall-Hall.’ The third movement begins on the same page (p.40). It is headed ‘Scherzo. Allegretto vivace.’ This movement ends at p.50 and is not signed.
- M-H 3/2-2
Fourth movement. The composer’s autograph black inked score. The paper is of a different format to M-H 3/2-1. It was once bound as a separate item, with brown paper at the left edge. 15 staves remain of a 30-stave score paper cut roughly at the lower edge to give a format of 37.5cm x 24.5cm. The pages are numbered from 1 to 12 in black inked pagination with a blank sheet at the end of the score, ie 7 sheets, 14 pages. Page 1 is inscribed in black ink: ‘Quartet in F (Finale), Marshall Hall. IV. Allo con brio.’
Pencilled words occur above the score at pp.2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10. Most are not decipherable. Fragments readable are:
p.2: ‘Do you remember the day when you came to see me and I forgot how terrified I was as I stood waiting for you …’
p.3: .’.. so? I pictured you, a gruff old man, with great bushy beard … coming … time … able to answer … For my part, I was … very well … come, and every time I say to myself …’
p.4: ‘… my fortune … You only saw … with … round frightened eyes. Who would not speak, yes, but your eyes, your eyes, spark my heart’
The score ends at p.12 without a concluding double bar line and is unsigned and undated.
- M-H 3/2-3: 1 to 4
Parts. M-H 3/2-3: 1 is a first violin part.
M-H 3/2-3: 2 is a second violin part.
M-H 3/2-3: 3 is a viola part.
M-H 3/2-3: 4 is a cello part.These are four separated folded sets of pages of the same size and imprint: 25.25cm x 32cm with ‘S.A. Press Australian Broadcasting Commission (Victorian Division)’ at the base of the page. 12 stave. Black inked notation. The parts are therefore of a much later date than the score itself. Possibly intended for broadcasting at the time of Prof. Sir Bernard Heinze, perhaps at the instigation of Percy Grainger. Four movements are present in all copies: Allegretto, Adagio Molto Sostenuto e con sentimento, Scherzo Allegretto Vivace, Allegro Con Brio.
- M-H 3/2-4
Fragment. A half sheet of score paper containing 18 bars of pencilled notation. Sheet 17.75cm x 25.5cm. Possibly a re-working intended for the 1st movement violin part. Two blank pages have been left loose with the above items. They are of the same format as the score pages of the 4th movement (see above).