Beethoven- String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, op. 18 No. 4 Part I
The Quartet we know now as opus 18, #4 was the last opus 18 string quartet to be written. Unique among the opus 18 quartets, no developmental sketches have been found amongst Beethoven’s documents. This leads to the belief that most of the quartet is based on material previously developed elsewhere in Beethoven’s early repertoire.
Set in the dark, stormy key of C Minor (one which he would come back to famously for his Symphony No. 5, op. 67), the first movement is unusual in that the first and second themes are nearly identical independent of key. Eschewing the traditional slow movement, we instead get a fugue-based scherzo followed by a more “traditional” Minuet and trio. The final movement is a fast, gypsy-tinted rondo.
I. Allegro ma non tanto
Sonata form
Theme one begins immediately in the home key of C Minor in the first violin over rhythmic accompaniment from the rest of the quartet. Intervals sequence upward before descending into a transition consisting of tutti chords (0:20). Phrase two of theme one follows, a slightly more lyric rising and falling line that really doesn’t do anything to comfort. Alternating ascents and descents characterize the transition that begins at 0:41 over a walking bass line from the cello.
Modulating to E-flat major, theme two is almost a carbon copy of theme one (0:55) and is first introduced in the viola with violin flourishes. Theme two is repeated by the upper voices. Rapid turn motives sequence upwards in the violins, emphasized with tutti chords on the downbeat. A rapidly ascending scale (1:49) leads to staccato ascents and descents answered by tutti chords. The exposition repeats beginning at 2:09 with theme one (theme two repeats at 3:04).
At about a minute and a half long, the fourth quartet has a surprisingly short development (for Beethoven). It begins at 4:18 with a more urgent theme one in the violin that passes to the baritone voice of the cello with pleas from the violin above (4:36). Theme one motives pass between the violin and cello before a forceful transition at 5:06. Theme two follows in the viola with violin decoration, but the bright mood soon turns dark as theme two modulates to minor in the first violin. Low string tremolos (5:43) rise steadily under dancing violin intervals, ending the development.
Theme one is recapitulated at 5:56 with a different underlying rhythm. After the (slightly extended) transition theme two is played, now in the parallel key of C Major (6:36). The second violin and viola repeat theme two under trill-based figures in the first violin and over a cello countermelody. Theme two’s subsequent phrases are repeated faithfully before the transition to the coda (7:37).
The coda (7:52) begins with upward-sequencing theme one motives in the violin that rise to a climax before descending and ending the movement on three tutti chords.
=*=
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. If you enjoyed this summary or otherwise found it helpful, consider Stumbling it using the button below.
Technorati Tags: Music 365, theme, violin, motive, melody, harmony, tremolo, chord, rhythm, sonata, exposition, introduction, recapitulation, coda, cadence, listening guide, arpeggio, scale, cello, viola, Beethoven, C Minor, Symphony No. 5, quartet, minuet, trio, rondo, opus 18, scherzo, ternary, trio, gypsy
