The Beethoven Project: Op 18 No 5

Well, I'm another week pregnant since last week.  Up to 31 weeks and 4 days, and I'm exhausted all the time.  I am so looking forward to August coming, and getting back to myself again, albeit me as a mom.



This week I listened to Beethoven's Fifth String Quartet, still part of the Opus 18 that was published in 1801.  All of the liner notes said that Beethoven was inspired by Mozart's A major quartet, K 464.  So I listened to that one too, and definitely heard the similarities.

The biggest thing I recommend while listening to this piece is to really listen and not get distracted during the third movement, which is a variation on a theme that is so simple and sublime, it gives you goosebumps.  The melody is simply part of a rising and falling scale, and the fourth variation in particular has the juiciest harmonies I've heard in one of his quartets yet.

http://thebeethovenproject.com/exploring-beethovens-quartets-richard-wigmore-writes-about-op-185-op-593-and-op-131/

The Beethoven Project: String Quartet Op 18 No 4

Of all the Beethoven String Quartets, this is the one I know the best, having seen it performed on two separate occasions.  I'm not sure why people choose this one to perform more than the others, but for whatever reason, I'm pretty familiar with Number 4. Which is a pretty good one to be familiar with - I love the drama in the opening movement. When I compare this to his first one, it sounds so much more Beethoven to me; so much more passionate and emotional. Take a listen:



"In the crisply effected first movement we feel strong purpose rather than the tragedy or pathos often associated with a minor key..." Dr. Robert Simpson at http://robertsimpson.info/writings/simpsons-writings/beethoven-string-quartets.html#op18no4

I also found this awesome color-coded video going through each section and explaining it. Super cool.



I like that there's no slow movement in this quartet.  The third movement Minuet is meant to be the most serious of all the movements, but it doesn't sound like a death march.  The final rondo is apparently taken from Haydn's Hungarian style, and I appreciate the final dancing notes.  And I appreciate the minor key, yet the music still sounds upbeat.

Further reading:
http://rolf-musicblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/beethoven-string-quartet-op184.html

The Beethoven Project: String Quartet No. 3 - Op 18, D Maj

 I'm still in Op 18, moving along to the third string quartet, which is actually the first one that Beethoven wrote.  He just liked mixing up the numbers, I guess.  Anyway, I'm actually fairly familiar with this one for some reason.  A few years ago I bought a recording of a complete set of Beethoven's string quartets, and this one stuck with me.  It sounds very Classical, and now that I know it was the first he wrote, knowing how he was trying to study Mozart and Haydn in learning how to write string quartets, I can definitely hear that it's early.  It doesn't have the same kind of emotion that his later works do, though that's not to say it's completely formulaic.  Just lacks some of the intensity of later Beethoven.

I think my favorite movement is actually the finale, which just sounds so joyous, and has so much going on that you need to listen very carefully, multiple times, to make sure you hear it all.  (On a personal note, it also makes my baby girl kick more than any of the other movements, which I quite like.)

Apparently this one - Number 3 (really the first, though) and Numbers 1 and 2 were part of a set that Beethoven composed and Prince Lobkowitz paid him 200 florins for the set in October 1799  He revised them before publication, writing an entirely new slow movement for Number 2.  In 2001 a professor at the University of Manchester reconstructed the slow movement using surviving detailed sketches, and performed it in a concert. 

I was curious as to how much 200 florins actually would buy you, and found this site about music in Vienna which gives a rough conversion: http://www.tonalsoft.com/enc/v/vienna.aspx.  In 1783 a young Beethoven was paid 63 florins on a trip to Rotterdam, which they said had similar buying power to about US$2000 in 2007.  So 200 florins was a little more than 3 times that, plus it was almost 20 years later, so maybe it was worth about $7000 in today's money?  Not a lot for a masterpiece.

I like this review on earsense.org: http://www.earsense.org/blog/?p=233

Also the Elias String Quartet have lots of reviews and background notes in their Beethoven Project pages: http://thebeethovenproject.com/exploring-beethovens-quartets-barry-cooper-writes-about-op-183-op-95-and-op-130/

The Beethoven Project: the String Quartets

A few years ago I was at a chamber concert and one of the pieces on the bill was one of Beethoven's string quartets (I forget which one).  Someone in the audience in front of me sighed, "I do so love the late quartets," and I remember being blown away at the idea that "the late string quartets" was actually something that a non-musician could be so excited by. 

Recently I've realized that I'm not going to live forever (duh) and there is a lot of Beethoven that I would like to listen to during the rest of my time on earth.  And a lot of Schubert.  And Brahms.  That's not to mention Guesaldo or Tallis or Byrd.  So I need to get cracking, and not just in some sort of random form.  I need a plan.  I want to start off learning these string quartets - what makes the early ones different from the middle, or late ones.  I want to know these pieces really well.  They seem a really good jumping off point for really delving into Beethoven.  So each week I'm going to really listen to one of these string quartets, research it, and get to know it.  Live with it for the week and absorb it into my skin so that someday, when I'm at a concert, I can also say, "I do so love the middle string quartets," and actually know what that means.

So the first - Opus 18 number 1, String Quartet #1 in F major.
Here's a link on Spotify to the album I'm listening to:
Endellion String Quartet – Beethoven : Complete String Quartets, Quintets & Fragments

A quick Google search on Beethoven String Quartets brings up a number of sources, but my favorite is this one from Earsence.org. 

Here's what I've learned so far:

Haydn developed the string quartet.  Mozart first tried to master it when he was about 28.  In the late 1790's, 28 year old Beethoven, also newly arrived in Vienna, spent two years in deep study of the String Quartet, and the result of those two years was Opus 18, published in 1801, and dedicated to Haydn.

The first of the group, in F Major, was actually the second one he wrote.  And he revised it before it was published, telling a friend to not publish it yet, because he had studied so much more and now had a better idea of how to write a string quartet.

Even Beethoven's earlier music has so much depth and emotion - I wonder what 19th century audiences would have thought about it.  The second movement is based on Romeo and Juliet, and around halfway through I really started to notice the tension and haunting sounds.  The first movement uses a six note motif, something that was still relatively new - it's not quite a melody, but it dances around and repeats itself in different keys from different instruments the entire way through the movement.  It's like a kid learning to walk and explore, but still going back to his mother for comfort and familiarity.

The scherzo is short and sweet.  Some say it's almost a relief after the emotional second movement.  The final movement doesn't do much for me - it's very busy with lots of point and counterpoint, and I'm sure there's a ton of juiciness in this, but right now, I'm almost tired from listening to everything else, and it's lost on me.  I wonder if Beethoven's audiences felt the same way.  Beethoven is a demanding composer. 

I just realized there are, I think, 17 string quartets.  I am 22 weeks pregnant, so if all goes well, I will go on a Beethoven journey which will finish up right before I'm about to give birth!  How fun is that?

String Quartet Opus 18 Number 1 in F Major resources:
Liner notes from the Robert Simspon Society: http://robertsimpson.info/writings/simpsons-writings/beethoven-string-quartets.html
Earsence.org: http://www.earsense.org/chamberbase/works/detail/?pkey=33
All About Beethoven: http://www.all-about-beethoven.com/stringquartet.html
LCS Productions: http://www.lcsproductions.net/MusicHistory/MusHistRev/Articles/BeethovenStQrts.html