|
Beethoven
started
composing
string
quartets
relatively
late, around
1798. Possibly
he wanted
first to reach
a certain
degree of
maturity in
his studies of
counterpoint.
Evidently he
regarded as
essential a
command of
polyphonic
style, fugue,
canon and
part-writing.
When
working in a
new field it
was natural
for Beethoven
to adhere to
established
patterns.
There is
surely more
than
superficial
significance
in the fact
that he began
with a series
of six
quartets, such
as Mozart had
produced in
1785 and Haydn
in 1790. But
as well as
these two
masters the
influence of
his own
previous
compositions
is also clear.
It
has been shown
that the
numbering of
the Op. 18
quartets does
not correspond
to the order
of writing.
The D major
Quartet was
completed
first, and it
was apparently
Beethoven's
violinist
friend
Schuppanzigh
who advised
him that the
later F major
Quartet would
make a more
effective
opening to the
series.
The
first quartet
opens with an
unusually
potent idea of
crucial
importance.
This theme
offers wide
scope for
development
and brings
fresh delight
with each
repetition,
whether in its
original form
or in one of
its variants
with modified
endings.
This
is the
foundation for
the superb
thematic work
which was
later to find
a lasting
place in works
like the Fifth
and Sixth
Symphonies.
The
Adagio
is a movement
of
indescribable
beauty and
profound
intensity,
whose
similarity to
the Largo
of
the D major
Piano Sonata,
Op. 10 No. 3
has often been
noted.
Beethoven is
said to have
been thinking
here of the
tomb scene
from "Romeo
and Juliet."
The scherzo,
one of the
finest of its
kind in
Beethoven's
output,
develops a
lively
dialogue
between the
instruments
with rapid and
starling
dynamic
changes. In
the finale,
the very
diversity of
the material
has prevented
the movement's
unqualified
acceptance;
Joseph
Kerman, for
instance,
found it
disappointing
and remarked
that
Beethoven's
battle for the
finale was yet
to come.
The
G major
Quartet has a
distinctive
quality that
has earned it
the nickname
of
"Komplimentierquartett."
Many
commentators
have seen in
the opening
movement
particularly,
which
enunciates no
less than
three distinct
themes in the
short space of
only eight
bars, a
backward look
to the Rococo.
The
Adagio
cantabile,
where richly
developed
ornamental
figures form a
link with the
first
movement, must
be regarded as
breaking new
ground for
Beethoven
introduces
here an Allegro,
a device he
also used in
the finale of
Op. 18 No. 6.
The opening
motif of the Allegro
is taken from
the closing
cadence of the
Adagio.
In the first
sketches for
this second
movement ther
is no trace of
this fast
intermezzo.
The
scherzo,
though lacking
some of the
dynamic and
rhythmic
refinements so
beloved by
Beethoven in
such
movements, is
lively and
joyful; some
of the motifs
in it reappear
quite soon in
the finale.
This last
movement is
the weightiest
in the
quartet, if
only by reason
of its extent.
In contrast to
the variety of
ideas in the
opening
movement, it
is rigidly
constructed on
one main theme.
|
