String Quartet No. 1 – All Classical Research

George Walker wrote String Quartet No. 1 in 1946, when he was just 24 years old and had just graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music.¹
The work consists of three movements:
1. Allegro
2. Molto adagio
3. Allegro con fuoco
Fun fact – the second movement, “Molto adagio,” became the well-known standalone piece, Lyric for Strings. Having learned of his beloved grandmother’s passing while writing his first quartet, Walker reworked this second movement as a memorial to her.²

“Molto Adagio from String Quartet No. 1, Lyric,” The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, accessed February 4, 2025, https://content.thespco.org/music/concert-library/composition/second-movement-from-string-quartet-no-1-lyric-george-walker.
“George Walker and ‘Lyric for Strings’: ‘the reaction has been astounding,’” Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2021), accessed February 4, 2025, https://cso.org/experience/article/3219/george-walker-and-lyric-for-strings-the-react.

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