Benjamin Franklin - Quartet for 3 Violins and Cello in F Major (ca. 1778)

Quartet for 3 Violins and Cello is a composition commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was a writer, a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a diplomat, a printer, a publisher, a political philosopher, and most importantly a Founding Father of the United States of America.
In Franklin’s life, there are two musical works that have been attributed to him. The first piece is a ballad on the death of the pirate Blackbeard, composed in 1719. The second is the Quartet, of which the authorship by Franklin has been doubted by some scholars (authorship of the work has been variously contested to be held by Joseph Haydn, Ignace Joseph Pleyel, and Giovanni Battista Ferrandini). However, other scholars have posited that the rational and over-practical approach in the composition’s writing reveals the presence of Franklin’s scientific ability. A likely theory to the context and origin of the piece would be that Benjamin Franklin ventured outside of his comfort zone to impress his friends Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy and Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvétius (to whom he is said to have once unsuccessfully proposed marriage) with a composition to be featured in one of their salons. That composition came in the form of the Quartet.
Franklin played several instruments, including the guitar and viola da gamba, and invented one called the “glass harmonica”. His tastes in music largely centered around popular music in the form of tuneful songs; he was not very impressed by much of the contemporary styles of instrumental art music that occurred during the late Baroque and Classical periods.
The Quartet is unusual and unique in many aspects. The instrumentation here consists of three violins and a cello, rather than the usual two violins, viola, and cello in a standard string quartet. Each instrument uses scordatura and is specially tuned in a way that the composition, which only contains 16 different pitches, can be played entirely on open strings. With those pitches, the pieces in the set are entirely diatonic with no modulation. In terms of notation, the overarching melody is spread evenly between the violins; the violins function in an egalitarian manner and simply looking at the individual parts will not help an observer grasp the meaning of the work.
The Quartet is structured like a suite, rather than in the typical sonata cycle format. It begins with an unnamed first movement that functions as an Intrada (some editors have given it the title “March”). This is followed by two slower Minuets, a walking-speed Siciliana, and a faster Capriccio.
Date: around 1778
Order:
No. 1 - Intrada (or March) in F Major: 0:08
No. 2 - Minuet in F Major: 1:17
No. 3 - Capriccio in F Major: 2:17
No. 4 - Minuet in F Major: 3:36
No. 5 - Siciliana in F Major: 4:37
Performers: Kohon String Quartet
Editor: Michael Louis Vidulich
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purposes.
Score: M. Soupelin, R. D. Lee, 2022.

[@phoebedraper170]

Still better than boulez 😂

[@themoonfleesthroughclouds]

Nah

[@dominicfiacco]

@@themoonfleesthroughclouds 🥱

[@TheCompleteWorksOfPierreBoulez]

I agree

[@zacharybell9925]

Nope lol

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

True

[@CurlysChilledPiano]

When you have so much liberty you say "fuck it" to conventional cello tuning.

[@wolfgangamadeusmozart6457]

This is not a Mozart moment

[@taylordiclemente5163]

Mozart could never

[@arnoldschoenberg7575]

1778…
78 is divisible by 13! I am afraid now.

[@coyoteagle]

you made this comment 13 hours ago...

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

@@coyoteagle hmm yes

[@Sploinky_doinky]

I see why I only know him for being a founding father and not a composer as well💀

[@delyar]

nicely done

[@delyar]

some stylish editing too

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

Citation needed*

[@themoonfleesthroughclouds]

LMFAO THOSE IMPOSSIBLE CELLO NOTES

[@invertedninthchord]

The "impossible" cello notes in question are a result of the strings being detuned to different pitches (Benjamin Franklin specifically wrote this piece to be entirely played on open strings, which are retuned for more access to diatonic pitches).

[@dominicfiacco]

Pianists: "THAT'S hard?"

[@themoonfleesthroughclouds]

@@invertedninthchord bruh

[@handsomefrenchmanguillom2574]

@@invertedninthchord yes indeed

[@lindsaygroves9188]

This music is about: DOING HOUSEWORK! It's perfect!

[@pierrefontenelle9271]

This is so incredibly, hilariously dreadful that it just cannot be by Haydn, Pleyel or any other (known) composer from that period. At least this gave a me a good laugh! XD

[@cuypers1800]

This piece is only done with open strings with every violin tuned differently. It’s not wondering they’re so out of tune but it makes it more interesting to listen to if you know this 😂😂😂

[@joonaa2751]

What’s bad about this piece? I find it kind of pleasant

[@nou6990]

in my opinion its kind of choppy and unnatural, like writing in a second language that you're not that well versed in

[@ethanbrowncomposer]

poor voice leading...

[@jamisonescott2300]

I would like to hear this done with kazoos. It might be an improvement.

[@yeetthebeet]

Omg thats amazing haha

[@mantictac]

Mmm, yes, people music.

[@guscox9651]

bar 7 and 8 of the minuet have to be a troll. theres no way someone would write b b b and the c the octave above lol

[@GUILLOM]

Why not

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

@@GUILLOM guillom ben franklin moment

[@musik350]

the large jumps in the cello's voice are necessary because all string parts are restricted to open strings only (minding the scordatura)

[@philipbay1548]

And just like that, you have revealed your ignorance.

[@guscox9651]

@@musik350 ohhh how did I not notice that before 😅

[@maniak1768]

Gee, I hope this Ben Franklin guy found another career than music after all.

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

What, Frank Joseph Haydn who?

[@snorefest1621]

lmao

[@GUILLOM]

lol

[@snorefest1621]

lol

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

Banger

[@kafenwar]

This reminds me of mosquitoes and flies for some reason.

[@ethanbrowncomposer]

It isn't awful. It sounds like a study lol

[@watermouth0072]

I have realized that the score doesn't match the music, (first note played = B, first note on score is C) was the song out of tune? (just wondering). The song tho is great.

[@taylordiclemente5163]

First note played is C at a pitch standard a semitone lower (A=415Hz)

[@r0mmm]

Wow... that's terrible 😂😂😂

[@NateSassoonMusic]

The writing feels almost intentionally brutalist, consciously avoiding any kind of real melodicism, which made for a unique listening experience. The sound of scordatura makes it sound even more bizarre, that in tandem with the the somewhat empty writing that makes this an interpretative challenge for the string player who wishes to be musically expressive…
Yes he’s obviously no Haydn, but it’s great that the American polymath founding father took an interest in music and that we have documents like this that survive. (Although I’ve read that this particular composition’s attribution is dubious.) If he did write it, I imagine it was something he just did for fun to play with friends. Maybe it’s not fair to compare this one-off novelty piece to the legacies of some of the greatest composers in western civilization.
Nieztche also tried composing music….

[@peabrane8067]

this is the worst music i've ever had the misfortune of hearing

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

Clearly never heard Sorabji

[@johnduffy2777]

@@TheOneAndOnlyZeno or schoenburg

[@TheOneAndOnlyZeno]

@@johnduffy2777 based

[@GUILLOM]

@@johnduffy2777 learn to write his name first

[@johnduffy2777]

@@GUILLOM once he learns how to write music

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

about as good as ein musikalischer spaß

[@BaroneVitellioScarpia1]

Ben Franklin wasn't a professional composer but this is way better than any composition by Philip Glass or John Cage.

[@zacharybell9925]

Not a good take… have you heard Glass’s piano etudes, metamorphosis, and glassworks? How about Cage’s piano sonatas? I assume no

[@jamisonescott2300]

Philip Glass can be an acquired taste. Try Koyaanisqatsi. You have to accept the repetitiveness.

[@kafenwar]

Try Sorabji's incomprehensible piano dithetings 😶

[@thenotsookayguy]

Better than Beethoven tbh

[@TGMGame]

B FLAT BELOW THE STAFF IN THE CELLO PART? Franklin needs more music training.

[@taylordiclemente5163]

All instruments are retuned and played with open strings

[@tonyprost5575]

Mozart did this much better. He called it A Musical Joke.

[@ethanbrowncomposer]

lmao

[@paolopalicalligaris]

Great piece … as the performance. 🙄🤪

[@violinbuff3782]

Lets see trump write 2 notes!!

[@ethanbrowncomposer]

...?