Beethoven- String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Part II
We continue our discussion of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 with movement II.
- Allegro
- Allegro vivace e sempre scherzando
- Adagio molto e mesto
- Theme Russe- Allegro
II. Allegro vivace e sempre scherzando
The second movement opens with a a bouncing motive of 4 staccato notes- three in succession and a slight pause followed by the fourth note- in the cello. A light-hearted melody in the violin enters before the bounce motive is repeated in the viola. The violin melody returns and the bounce motive is repeated in the full quartet. At 0:25 the much more lyric and connected transition is played in the violins before it ends in a forceful 3-note descent. The bounce motive is played in tutti before being passed around the quartet (0:38).
An Eastern European-sounding theme two is heard in the violin, but does not last long as syncopated crescendos at 1:04 lead to more bounces and a what at first sounds like a repeat of the exposition. After the second statement of the violin theme, violent tutti bounce motives (1:43) lead to a grander version of theme one in the violins. Theme two returns at 2:08. Theme two motives are heard successively in violin, cello, and the violin again starting at 2:16 interrupted by descending scales. A short variation of theme one begins at 2:48 with the bounce motive, ending in 3 loud tuttis at 3:06. The transition theme follows before a trio section based off the bounce motive begins at 3:17.
The trio theme begins with an extra note tacked onto the end of the bounce motive. it is quiet, and since it is played more legato than the initial motive a sense of laziness is created. At 3:38 the wake-up call comes in the form of rapid violin arpeggios and forte accompaniment from the bass line. An extended transition theme sounds high in the violins at 4:02. Delicate four-note motives gradually blend in with the bass line before three tuttis at 4:25.
Theme one bounces in the violins are accompanied with a new melody in the low voices, which are soon sequenced throughout the quartet. A brief transition is followed by more bounce motives and a return of theme two at 5:11. Heavy crescendos at 5:31 lead to a brief return of theme one before another extended transition (5:51). Violin flourishes of transition motives end in a descending arpeggio (6:39).
A new theme is introduced at 6:38 whose first phrase consists of a slow rise followed by an arpeggiated descent. The second phrase is built around a 3-note descent followed by a jump and a 2-note descent. These motives are sequenced and repeated by the instruments in the quartet before bounce motives at 7:22. Syncopated descents in the violins lead to a disconnected section in which the melody is handed off to each instrument in the quartet (7:28).
A long ascent leads to yet another new theme at 7:50 as the bounce motive can be heard in the cello. The theme is heard three times with transition motives in between before three loud tuttis at 8:25 immediately followed by three soft tuttis. The bounce motive is extended and sequenced upwards before the violin plays the transition melody (8:45) and begins to trill. A pizzicato note followed by successive bounce motives each instrument lead to the closing chords.
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If you are interested in listening to a recording, the Juilliard String Quartet’s 1964 recordings on Sony come highly recommended, and are what I used to write this summary. You can buy this recording from Amazon by clicking on the image below. While this is not available in the iTunes Music Store, the Emerson String Quartet’s 1997 release on Deutsche Grammophone is also highly recommended.
This article is part of the Music 365 series. To find out more about this project, please visit the project homepage.
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