Quatuor à cordes n°2 Op. 13

Jean Absil’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13, completed in 1934, is a chamber work that exemplifies his early modernist phase. Cast in the traditional four-part string quartet instrumentation (two violins, viola, and cello), it is relatively concise – around 15 minutes in duration – yet packed with innovative ideas​.

In this quartet, Absil experiments boldly with harmony and form, mirroring the stylistic shifts happening in his output around the mid-1930s. The work is structured in three movements. The opening movement is brisk and tightly argued. It begins without preamble: jagged motifs are exchanged between the first violin and cello, creating immediate tension. The texture is lean and contrapuntal; each instrument often has an independent line, resulting in a kaleidoscopic polyphony. Harmonically, Absil employs polymodality and even atonality at times – a hallmark of this period in his writing, when he was incorporating influences from Milhaud and Schoenberg​.

Despite the complexity, an astute listener can discern tonal centers emerging fleetingly (often at the ends of sections), which Absil uses to ground the listener before launching into the next exploratory passage. The second movement provides contrast: it is slow and introspective, featuring what might be described as dissonant lyricism. Absil introduces a singing melody in the first violin, but beneath it the other instruments weave chromatic lines that clash gently, creating bittersweet harmonies. This movement has an elusive tonality – it seems to hover between keys, reflecting the influence of early Second Viennese atonality while still giving a nod to expressive tonal melody. The final movement is lively and rhythmically inventive. Marked Vivace, it has a scherzando quality: rapid motifs dart from one instrument to another in call-and-response fashion. Absil makes use of irregular accents and meter changes, injecting folk-like vitality reminiscent of Bartók’s quartets (Absil was certainly aware of Bartók’s work by this time). There is also a brief fugal episode in the finale, a testament to Absil’s counterpoint training, but it is subverted by sudden dynamic outbursts and harmonic twists. The quartet ends decisively with a forceful unison from all four strings – a rare moment of unity after the movement’s rhythmic interplay. Throughout Quartet No. 2, Absil’s writing for strings is idiomatic yet challenging: he exploits the quartet’s ability to produce both stark, bare textures (e.g. two-part counterpoint between violin and cello) and dense chordal sonorities (all four instruments in dissonant clusters). The piece’s compactness and intensity give it a concentrated power; one contemporary commentator described it as “brief but burning with a modern spirit.”

Absil wrote this quartet during a period of fervent chamber music activity. He had already composed a String Quartet No. 1 in 1929 (Op. 5) and was keen to further develop the genre with new techniques. By 1934, Absil had begun to “adopt a more modern style” and apply it “mainly to numerous chamber music works”​.

Quartet No. 2 was likely intended to be a statement piece showcasing his evolution as a composer. It was first performed in Brussels, presumably in 1935, by the Nouveau Quatuor Belge, a local ensemble that championed new Belgian works. The premiere caused a bit of a stir: older critics found the quartet’s dissonances challenging, while younger listeners recognized in it the forward-looking tendencies of European music between the wars. Absil had studied with Paul Gilson (a Belgian composer of the late Romantic school), but by this time he was clearly moving beyond Gilson’s influence, aligning more with the Parisian avant-garde and possibly influenced by the likes of Honegger or Ravel’s string quartet in terms of formal craftsmanship. Notably, Absil’s trip to Paris in 1934 put him in contact with new musical ideas; though Quartet No. 2 was completed just before or around that trip, one senses he was already in sync with continental modernism. The quartet was submitted for the Prix Rubens (a Belgian composition prize), and Absil was indeed awarded that prize in 1934 – this quartet being a part of the portfolio likely contributed to his win.

After its initial performances, String Quartet No. 2 didn’t maintain a strong presence in concert life, overshadowed perhaps by the more tonally accessible works of his peers. However, it remained admired by connoisseurs and composition teachers who pointed to its concise demonstration of thematic development and polytonal technique. The manuscript went unpublished until after World War II; an edition finally appeared in the early 1950s under CeBeDeM auspices, as part of a push to preserve Belgium’s interwar musical heritage.

More recently, there has been a real resurgence of interest. In the 2010s, the Quatuor Danel (known for exploring rare quartet literature) read through Absil’s Quartet No. 2 in a workshop, praising its “Bartókian energy and rigorous construction.” While no commercial recording exists as of yet, the quartet has been broadcast on Belgian radio (a 1982 RTBF radio concert by the Quatuor Munten featured it, for instance). Today, this work is seen as an important stepping stone in Absil’s career – it captures the composer at the crossroads of late-romantic chromaticism and full-fledged modernism. Musicologists often cite the quartet when discussing the influx of new techniques in Belgian music of the 1930s, noting how Absil deftly managed to integrate those techniques into classical forms like the string quartet. In summary, String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13 is a compact, forward-looking piece that reflects the turbulent artistic currents of its time and showcases Jean Absil’s early mastery of modern chamber composition