Beethoven- String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, op. 18 Part II
The second movement scherzo of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 4.
II. Scherzo- Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
The scherzo begins with a fugue-like passage with the initial theme presented by the violin. Repeated, ascending notes are followed by a long descent before a turn motive finishes the phrase. As the other voices join in, they combine on a lazy descent (0:20). Leaps in the violin are answered in the cello over lightly bouncing accompaniment from the viola and countermelody in the second violin. Staccato rising and falling motives followed by a leap end the initial section at 0:39.
The next section begins with repeated notes in the cello that ascend through the quartet. The first violin plays a series of trills followed by descents before a compact rising and falling motive is played by the second violin (0:52). This motive spreads and repeats throughout the quartet before two-note ascents provide momentary relief. The same motives are then sequenced downward in the first violin before another set of two-note ascents. Three-note motives in the first violin over rising and falling accompaniment soon pass to the viola and cello (1:24) before an alternating figure and four chords bring the opening “A” section to its conclusion.
The middle section begins with a minor version of the initial theme before the cello (1:58) boldly states another fugue theme very similar to the first. This theme is passed through the quartet before the first violin extends it. Straight, tutti figures (2:23) soon turn into a dialogue between the lower voices and the rest of the quartet. 3-note figures begin to repeat throughout the various instruments before a marvelous polyphonic section begins at 3:07, combining the fugue themes from the sections heard thus far. Leaps in the violin are again followed by trills (3:34) and answered by rising and falling figures in the cello.
At 4:04 another passage containing the compact rising/falling from the second part of the opening section of the Scherzo begins in the first violin. A brief cadence leads to rising and falling accompaniment under repeated three-note motives in dialogue between the violin and cello (4:34). Heavy three-note figures end the third section of the Scherzo and begin the coda.
Wistful three-note figures sequence upwards before descending. The violin repeats the opening fugue theme before a three-pitch ascent in eighth notes descends and is repeated by the cello. A series of alternating eighth notes crescendos before the movement ends on two soft 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
