5th 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. 5 in A major op.18.5 is a string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven .

Emergence

The quartet was written from June to August 1799 as one of six string quartets that were grouped under opus number 18 with a dedication to their client, Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz . Contrary to its numbering with the number five, it was composed as the fourth of the six quartets; the numbering in the opus number 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.

The quartet was published in 1801.

Sentence names

  1. Allegro (A major)
  2. Menuetto (A major)
  3. Andante cantabile (D major)
  4. Allegro (A major)

To the music

When composing this quartet, Beethoven followed the model of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's string quartet in A major KV 464, of which Beethoven had created a score for himself, along with Mozart's KV 387, from the individual parts. Parallels between Mozart's KV 464 and Beethoven's Op. 18.5 are, for example, the key, similarities in the movements such as the same movement names in some cases, as well as a minuet as the second movement and a variation structure in the third movement. There are also some similarities, for example in harmony and rhythm.

Beethoven's admiration for Mozart is attested not only by his piano student Ferdinand Ries , but also by Carl Czerny : “Beethoven once saw the score of the 6 Mozart quartets with me. He opened the 5th (in A) and said: 'This is a work! Then Mozart said to the world: 'See what I could do when the time had come for you!'

This admiration for Mozart is viewed critically by the American musicologist Joseph Kerman: "I take this Mozart imitation as the most dramatic sign of his uncertainty and sense of disruption at this particular stage of the quartet project" .

First sentence

In the first movement, Beethoven follows Mozart's style, deviating from the dramatic sonata movement development in the opening movements of the first three quartets, Op. 18. The movement, which is in 6/8 time, is introduced by two powerful measures. The two themes of the exposition follow immediately within 42 bars . The cantable, cheerful main theme is characterized by sixteenths in the violin and ascending trills ; following the example of Mozart's quartet, it is in the triple meter. The side theme, containing semitone sighs, begins in E minor and goes to G major. After a third thought, which contains a dialogue between cello and viola, the exposition ends in sixteenth-note passages of the first violin. In contrast to the quartets . Op 18,1 and op. 18.2 is in the implementation exactly repeated exposure of op 18,5. even the recapitulation contains hardly any changes.

Second sentence

The second movement begins with a bold dialogue between the two violins. The middle section, which is also reminiscent of Mozart's KV 464, contains lively eighth-note figures in the first violin, surprisingly changes to C sharp minor with a crescendo to fortissimo and ends abruptly. The recapitulation has a denser sentence structure and varies the main theme of the second movement.

Third sentence

The third movement is designed as the center of the quartet. Beethoven designed the movement, which is about twice as long as the other movements in the quartet, just like Mozart in his quartet in the form of variations; furthermore, the third movements of Beethoven's op. 18,5 and Mozart's KV 464 have meter, key and an extensive coda in common.

The simple theme of the movement is followed by five variations, which are of equal length and mostly harmoniously constant.

In the first variation, the eighths of the main theme become sixteenths; it begins with the cello and is then continued by the viola and the two violins. The second variation converts the sixteenth notes of the first variations into sixteenth note triplets that are played by the first violin. In the third variation, the violin converts the sixteenth-note triplets of the second variation into tremolo-like thirty-second notes, thus accompanying the dialogue between the leading viola and the cello. The fourth variation alternates several times between major and minor and varies the theme of the third movement into a chorale. The fifth variation was probably inspired by Mozart's sixth variation. With its staccato sixteenth and sforzati set against the center of the time, as well as the trills in the first violin, it has the character of a rough folk dance.

The coda, accompanied by staccato sixteenth notes, takes up the first two bars of the main theme and ends in a calm poco adagio.

Fourth sentence

The main theme of the alla breve finale consists of a motif of 3/8 upbeat and a fourth and appears first as a canon of all four instruments, then as a reversal and finally as a counterpoint to the transition theme. The development beginning in the minor is contrasted by a calm secondary theme and, following the example of Mozart, is ended by a gentle minor variant. After a rule-compliant recapitulation, the movement surprisingly ends in a piano chord.

literature

  • Matthias Moosdorf : Ludwig van Beethoven. The string quartets . 1st edition. Bärenreiter, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7618-2108-4 .
  • Gerd Indorf: Beethoven's string quartets: cultural-historical aspects and work interpretation . 2nd Edition. Rombach, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7930-9491-3 .
  • Harenberg cultural guide chamber music . Bibliographisches Institut & FA Brockhaus AG, Mannheim 2008, ISBN 978-3-411-07093-0
  • Jürgen Heidrich: The string quartets . In: Beethoven manual . Bärenreiter-Verlag Karl Vötterle, Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-02153-3 , pp. 173-218
  • Lewis Lockwood : Beethoven: His Music - His Life. Metzler, 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-02231-8 , pp. 124-130
  • Theodor Helm: Beethoven's string quartets. Attempt a technical analysis of these works in relation to their intellectual content . Leipzig 1885, 3rd edition 1921.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: works. New edition of all works . Division VI, Volume 3 (op. 18, 1-6, first version of op. 18,1 and string quartet version of the piano sonata op. 14). Edited by the Beethoven Archive in 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. ^ Georg Schünemann : Czerny's memories of Beethoven . In: New Beethoven Yearbook , 9th year 1939, p. 47–74, here p. 57 f.
  2. ^ Joseph Kerman: The Beethoven Quartets . New York 1967, p. 59
  3. ↑ Gerd Indorf: Beethoven's string quartets: Cultural-historical aspects and work interpretation Rombach; 2nd edition May 31, 2007, p. 197ff.