Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) composed his String Quartet Op. 131 in the first half of 1826, only about a year before his death the following March. It is unusual in having seven movements (though two are very short), and it is often regarded as his finest quartet—if not the finest quartet of all time—with its complex structure, intensity of expression, and originality of ideas and form.

Introduction

The seven movements are designed to be played without a break, though one can be made after the fourth movement. In Beethoven’s autograph score, there is not even a barline (to signal the end of a measure) between the first two movements, and only a single barline (instead of a double to signal the end of a section) between the others—except after the fourth, where he drew the sign he normally used at the end of a work, suggesting a possible break. Although the first movement is in C-sharp minor, subsequent movements use different keys, and the home key does not reappear until the finale. The quartet is, however, exceptionally well unified.

History

By December 1825 Beethoven had completed a commission from the Russian Prince Nikolas Galitzin (1794–1866) for three string quartets, but he immediately set to work on Op. 131, rather than turning to a different genre. It is sometimes assumed that he had become so absorbed in string-quartet writing that he continued with this elevated genre for his own amusement—but this is completely incorrect. He continued with string quartets because he was being pestered for them by several publishers. In particular, Maurice (Moritz) Schlesinger (1798–1871) came all the way from Paris to the Austrian town of Baden, where Beethoven was staying, in September 1825, and assured him that he would earn more for his nephew Karl (1806–58) with quartets than any other genre. (Mentioning Karl was a cunning way of ensuring a positive response.) Thus, Beethoven did not turn his back on the public, but specifically responded to demand for more quartets, composing both Op. 131 and its successor, the F-major string quartet, Op. 135.

Beethoven: Quartet in C-sharp minor for Strings, Op. 131

Beethoven’s work on Op. 131 was even more intense than usual, with hundreds of pages of sketches surviving, and it was not completed till about June 1826. Schlesinger hoped to acquire it, but another publisher, B. Schott’s Söhne (“Sons”) of Mainz, also wanted it, and Beethoven finally sent it to them on August 12. In the agreement, the publishers specified an original quartet. Beethoven was somewhat disconcerted by the implication that he might send them something not original, so he mischievously wrote on the score he sent: “Stolen together from various bits of this and that.” To add to the confusion, he numbered the movements: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6! The publishers were duly taken in until he explained the joke. He reassured them that it was completely new, and it is, in fact, highly original, with its unprecedented structure. Part of the work may have been tried out in private that summer, but it was not published until May 1827, after Beethoven’s death, and the first known performance did not take place until June 5, 1828, when it was heard at a music festival in Halberstadt.

Form and Analysis

The first movement is a solemn fugue, with each instrument, in turn, entering with the main theme—an unprecedented way to begin a string quartet. The fugue ends with an upward octave leap, from C-sharp to C-sharp; this is immediately echoed at the start of the next movement by a similar leap on D, which becomes the keynote in a much livelier, lighter movement in 6/8 meter. It ends with a solid cadence (phrase ending), but is immediately followed by a short, linking passage that modulates from B minor to A major in preparation for the fourth movement—a theme and variations. Although the structure of the theme is entirely regular (8 + 8 + 8 + 8 measures), the main melody is shared between alternating first and second violins. The theme is also unusual in starting with a half-beat silence on the first beat of the measure, creating rhythmic uncertainty. In the following variations the melodic line of the theme largely disappears, and only the harmonic structure remains. The most remarkable variation is perhaps the sixth one. This is unusually in 9/4 meter, but this is hard to perceive as each of the first five measures begins with a one-beat silence, followed by a series of slow chords, giving a wonderfully mysterious, static quality to the music. The lengthy coda that follows contains fragments of the theme—some sped up and played in remote keys (C major and F major)—before a return to A major.

The fifth movement, a Presto in E major, has a five-part structure: scherzo – trio – scherzo – trio – scherzo. The scherzo sections are full of staccato energy, occasionally interrupted, while the trio sections are gentler but no slower. At the end is a brief coda, which concludes with two-octave leaps, from E down to E and back up to E. This motive is then repeated with two-octave leaps on G-sharp, preparing for the short sixth movement in G-sharp minor. The slow, haunting melody of this movement bears an uncanny resemblance to the ancient Jewish Kol Nidrei melody, but this is coincidental, and Beethoven created his theme from within the context of the quartet. The movement leads, without a break, into a final dramatic Allegro, in which the main theme recalls the first four notes of the first movement (G-sharp, B-sharp, C-sharp, A), but in a different order. A few measures later they appear in yet another order, this time using the rhythm of the work’s initial theme, creating an uncanny sense of integration. The movement is in sonata form, with the second theme in E major (recalling the key of the scherzo), but it later returns in D major (the key of the second movement), before moving back to C-sharp minor.

At one stage Beethoven planned an eighth movement, a “Sweet Song of Rest” in D-flat major, but he abandoned the idea and used the theme in the slow movement of his next quartet, Op. 135. Without the “Sweet Song of Rest,” Op. 131 seems to end rather abruptly, as if on the edge of a precipice. And Beethoven may have thought of it this way, for at the end of his autograph score, unlike all his other works, there is no double bar-line—or even a single barline!

Critical Thoughts

This is the most integrated of all Beethoven’s quartets, with the absence of breaks between movements (except, perhaps, after the fourth), and with motivic connections linking some of them. Knowing about the abandonment of the eighth movement adds a further dimension, and performers might find it worth experimentally inserting the slow movement of Op. 135 after the finale (without a break), not least so one can appreciate why Beethoven declined to keep it—for it makes the precarious ending of Op. 131 more palpable.

Legacy

Like all Beethoven’s late quartets, this one was not widely appreciated at first, but connoisseurs quickly appreciated its originality and sophistication. They were greatly assisted when Schott’s published a score only a few months after they had published a set of parts for the individual players. It is now frequently performed by the leading quartet ensembles, many of whom recognize it as the pinnacle of Beethoven’s achievements in the genre.

There is nothing like this work in the entire quartet repertoire.

--------

Article by Barry Cooper