4th string quartet (Beethoven)

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Beethoven portrait by Carl Traugott Riedel from 1801.
Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, dedicatee of the Quartets op. 18, on an oil painting by Friedrich Oelenhainz

The String Quartet No. 4 in C minor Op. 18 No. 4 is a string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven .

Emergence

The quartet was created in 1799, contrary to the numbering in the opus number, probably as the penultimate of the six quartets that were summarized under opus number 18 and dedicated to Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz .

The numbering in the opus number of the quartets op. 18 corresponds to the order in which the quartets were printed. Although the order in which the quartets op. 18 were composed is not clearly certain, since the autographs have been lost, it can be assumed from the sketchbooks.

In the case of Op. 18.4, the lack of drafts for this quartet in Beethoven's sketchbooks led to the assumption that it was written when Beethoven was still living in Bonn. But it is also possible that Beethoven made sketches for this quartet, but these have been lost.

The quartet was published in 1801.

Sentence names

  1. Allegro ma non tanto (C minor)
  2. Scherzo. Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto (C major)
  3. Menuetto. Allegretto (C minor)
  4. Allegro - Prestissimo (C minor)

To the music

The first bars.

First sentence

The main theme of the first movement, which is in minor, starts in a dramatic style with the small g and runs through double strokes and leaps in intervals. Fortissimo chords lead over to the thematically related secondary theme of the second violin in E flat major. The exposition is characterized by cadenza figures from the first violin, a third theme (also in E flat major) and a pianissimo that follows it. By the tremolo embossed in the middle voices and the two major themes implementation based in the course of the exposure. In the recapitulation , the chord beats are reinforced and the transition shortened, before the music ends the movement in gloomy C minor.

The movement is similar to the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 , the “Pathétique”, which Beethoven had completed shortly before the quartet was composed. In the opinion of the Beethoven biographer Ernst Pichler, the beginning of this sentence could represent a paraphrase of Beethoven's song composition I think yours , based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , which the composer Josephine Brunsvik , who is considered to be the possible addressee of Beethoven's letter to the immortal beloved , dedicated it . Beethoven got to know Josephine Brunsvik and her sister Therese Brunsvik while composing the Quartets op. 18, gave them piano lessons and developed feelings for Josephine.

Hugo Riemann judged this sentence strictly : "That the inability to get rid of a quite intrusive motif refers the sentence back to an earlier time is probably beyond doubt," whereas Wilhelm von Lenz in this sentence, "Outflow of correct feeling and a deep mind « Saw.

Second sentence

In contrast to the first movement in C minor, the second movement of the quartet is laid out as a Scherzoso, which is reminiscent of Beethoven's Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59.1 .

The theme, consisting of eighths and sixteenths, is laid out as a fugato . A transition - also as a fugato - is followed by the secondary theme. This takes up the rhythms of the main theme and, like the following development, combines the Fugato technique with the sonata movement . In addition, the development alternates between major and minor and ends in minor pianissimo. In the recapitulation, three themes are fugaled until a coda that begins dramatically at first lets the movement end cheerfully.

The movement is similar to the slow second movement from Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C major, Op. 21, composed in 1799 .

Third sentence

The third movement is probably based on the D minor quartet KV 421 and possibly also on the Symphony in G minor KV 550 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . The numerous sforzati take up the dramatic mood of the first movement. In the A flat major trio, chains of triplets are repeated in the first violin. In 1818, Beethoven demanded 84 bars per minute for the movement, which was originally entitled “Allegretto”, but only a few performers adhere to this.

Fourth sentence

The fourth movement is designed as a rondo and is determined by repetitions without variations. Despite the flowing cantilever theme, the mood of the movement remains excited. The end of the movement is marked by three triplet strokes and a change in key from C minor to C major.

Similar to the first movement, the fourth movement shows similarities to the last movement of Beethoven's “Pathétique”.

effect

After the publication of the quartets op. 18, the composer Doležalek said that he only liked the quartets op. 18.2 and op. 18.4, whereupon Beethoven replied contemptuously: “That's a lot of shit ! Good for the fucking audience ” .

Beethoven is said to have left a performance of the quartet after just a few bars because the tempo did not suit him and he could not find any pleasure in the quartet either. In Beethoven's own assessment, there is "a natural feeling in it, but little art" .

literature

further reading

  • Theodor Helm: Beethoven's string quartets. Attempt a technical analysis of these works in relation to their intellectual content . Leipzig 1885, 2nd edition 1921.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: works. New edition of all works , section VI, volume 3 (op. 18, 1–6, first version of op. 18,1 and string quartet version of the piano sonata op. 14), ed. from the Beethoven Archive Bonn (J. Schmidt-Görg et al.). Munich / Duisburg 1961 ff.
  • Joseph Kerman: The Beethoven Quartets . New York 1967
  • Boris Schwarz: Beethoven's op.18 and Haydn's string quartets . In: Report on the international musicological congress . Bonn 1970, Kassel a. a. 1971, pp. 75-79
  • Sieghard Brandenburg : Beethoven's string quartets op.18 . In: Sighard Brandenburg, Martella Gutiérrez-Denhoff (Hrsg.): Beethoven and Böhmen . Bonn 1988, pp. 259-302
  • Herbert Schneider: 6 string quartets in F major, G major, D major, C minor, A major and B major op.18 . In: A. Riethmüller u. a. (Ed.): Beethoven. Interpretations of his works . 2 volumes. 2nd Edition. Laaber, 1996, Volume 2, pp. 133-150
  • Marianne Danckwardt: On the string quartets op. 18 by Ludwig van Beethoven . In: Franz Krautwurst (ed.): New musicological yearbook , 6th year, 1997, pp. 121–161

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lewis Lockwood : Beethoven: His Music - His Life . Metzler 2009, p. 125 f.
  2. ^ A b c Lewis Lockwood: Beethoven: His Music - His Life . Metzler 2009, p. 126
  3. ^ Ernst Pichler: Beethoven. Myth and Reality . Vienna / Munich 1994, p. 162f.
  4. ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer : Ludwig van Beethovens Leben , edited in German by Hermann Deiters, revised by Hugo Riemann. 1866 ff., Reprint Hildesheim / New York 1970, Volume 2, p. 189
  5. ^ Wilhelm von Lenz : Beethoven. An art study . Volume 1, Kassel 1855, p. 217
  6. ↑ Gerd Indorf: Beethoven's string quartets: Cultural-historical aspects and work interpretation Rombach . 2nd Edition. 2007, p. 208
  7. ^ Gerd Indorf: Beethoven's string quartets: Cultural-historical aspects and work interpretation . 2nd Edition. Rombach, 2007, p. 211
  8. ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer: Ludwig van Beethovens Leben , edited in German by Hermann Deiters, revised by Hugo Riemann. 1866 ff., Reprint Hildesheim / New York 1970; Volume 2, p. 200
  9. ^ Wilhelm von Lenz: Beethoven. An art study , Volume 1. Kassel 1855, p. 252
  10. ↑ Alexander Wheelock Thayer: Ludwig van Beethovens Leben , edited in German by Hermann Deiters, revised by Hugo Riemann. 1866ff., Reprint Hildesheim / New York 1970, Volume 2, p. 206