Arnold Steinhardt, first violin of the internationally acclaimed Guarneri String Quartet, invites music listeners to the world of the string quartet repertoire and ensemble. Journey with him and interpretive analysis instructor Mia Chung through the history and features of quartet music, colored by stories of legendary quartets and insights from the stage. This season's Curtis courses are sponsored by Linda Richardson in loving memory of her husband, Dr. Paul Richardson.
BEETHOVEN "Razumovsky" Quartet, Op. 59, No. 3, Finale
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The World of the String Quartet
Welcome to the World of the String Quartet, where you will hear the extraordinary stories behind great repertoire, discover renowned performers' experiences, and develop keen insight as a listener. This first program samples stunning repertoire from some of the most significant composers: Ravel, Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák. What power can four instruments hold?
Conheça os instrutores
Arnold SteinhardtPerformance Faculty
Dr. Mia ChungInstructor of Interpretive Analysis
Musical Studies
Beethoven indicated an almost impossibly fast metronome
marking for the last movement
of his string quartet in C major,
Opus 59 number three. Whether his failing hearing deceived him,
whether his metronome was faulty, or whether he really meant the movement to
be played at that exact tempo,
we'll never know for sure. But for sure,
the movement has to be played very fast and it has to sound
brilliant. Not only that, the quartet ensemble and intonation must be flawless.
That's quite a lot to ask a quartet.
But it gets worse. The movement must sound
easy, a piece of cake that the quartet could toss off in its sleep.
Some music asks to be played
with a sense of struggle, but not here.
This is party music accompanied by fireworks.
You can hear the good cheer in the opening entrance of each instrument,
music that played at a slower speed might sound naive,
and fitting at a children's playground.
And this movement is a playground of sorts
where the music can frolic. Groups of notes are tossed back and forth
like hot potatoes.
A king of the hill moment challenges each player,
one after another, to rush to the top of a passage
and then back down again. Which one will do it with the most flair?
The frighteningly fast tempo that a quartet sets at the beginning must be
must be kept to, but not quite
always. True rhythm sometimes defies the metronome.
There are times when an increase in dynamics can be heightened by a subtle
increase in tempo.
And at another time--it happens just once in a movement--
when the surprise stillness of a sudden pause in the music can be lengthened
just a split-second for dramatic impact. And in the home stretch of this
razzle-dazzle movement comes something completely unexpected.
While three instruments continue the dash to the finish line,
the second violin provides a most deliciously soaring
melody. One that no longer requires circus-like virtuosity,
but the touch of an artist.
Then just when the muscles seem to give out completely,
but don't because of the marathon-like
training that the quartet has kept at for
months, there's one last rush to the top
of the phrase, and three triumphant chords before the
audience goes wild with applause.
Mia will get into the whole excitement at this piece,
and bring out some its marvelous details.
The finale movement of Beethoven's
Opus 59 number three string quartet is indeed a party.
A celebration, with fireworks and all.
But like any other party, there's a lot of planning required.
A lead-up time to that great celebration.
Beethoven was very well known for doing this. He had a wonderful
way of connecting movements. Of
casting drama from the very beginning,
and building up to it, creating a sense of anticipation
and expectation for that moment. The fugue theme
in this finale movement is an interesting one. It's 10 measures in length,
which is quite long. And it's
presented in the viola first. Now, in a fugue,
the voices will imitate each other in a very strict
fashion. It's right out of the handbook of baroque composition.
Beethoven is, in many ways, respecting his predecessors.
He was a wonderful fugal writer.
The viola comes in with this thematic idea.
[MUSIC]
So, there you have it. I presented
the theme first as it sounds in the viola,
and then the entrance of the second violin,
and then finally I just ended with what would have been the entrance of the
cello voice in this fugal texture.
Now, I want you to listen carefully
for some of the ideas that are embedded in this
fugue theme. Because guess what? Those ideas
actually were planted in the seed materials that come from the first
movement. Listen, for example, for these little rotating group of pitches.
[MUSIC]
Those ideas actually come from the first movement. Now,
when you think about the cheerfulness, the sunniness
and effervescence of this theme,
it's hard to imagine that this whole work started
in a completely different place.
That's a place of complete abstraction,
pulselessness, dissonance, mystery,
and tremendous uncertainty. Let's go now to the very
opening measures of the first movement. And this is how they sound.
[MUSIC]
You might be wondering how on earth
do we get from that point,
point A, all the way to this rollicking fun
fugato in the finale of this piece. Well, there's a whole process
of evolution of ideas that's going on
that spans the course of the three movements leading up to the finale.
Let me take you through what these ideas are.
After the abstraction and dissonance and uncertainty
and gravity of this moment, eventually
we reach an allegro section, which is a faster
section. And this is where the substance, or the bulk of
the first movement is presented.
But we don't arrive in the key of C major for a number of measures.
When we finally do, we hear
this theme, which is rather playful and fun. Imagine
turning off the lights, or turning on the lights if you will,
going from darkness to complete sunniness.
This is what it sounds like:
[PLAYS]
Now recall those little returning tone groups, those cells that I
mentioned in the fugue theme of the finale.
Do you hear those little rotating ideas
in this opening violin first theme
in C Major? [PLAYS]
So, there it is. The DNA of the fugue theme.
Now, this sort of rotating idea of pitches
is actually outlining something quite wonderful and simple,
and that is like a C major scale.
[PLAYS]
That scalar idea makes its appearance in the second movement as well.
which happens in the key of
A minor, is a very different scalar
nature. It sounds like this.
[MUSIC]
What you'll notice in that descending scale
Is the presence of an internal called the augmented second.
Now, the augmented second
actually has its roots in Slavonic scales.
Let me play it for you again. [PLAYS]
You'll notice that there's this gap in the scale. Almost, it suddenly
drops down a larger interval.
An augmented second is built off of a major second.
And this is what a major second sounds like. [PLAYS]
And I take the upper pitch of that relationship, and I
raise it a half-step. [PLAYS]
And that's an interval that requires resolution. It's dissonant,
it's tense. It wants resolution. Now,
this was Beethoven actually tipping his hat
to Russian culture. Because in fact,
Count Razumovsky, who was the ambassador to Vienna at the time from Russia,
was the one who commissioned these string quartets from Beethoven.
in all the other string quartets of this set of six,
Beethoven actually quotes Russian themes. Here,
we just have a little reference to the Slavonic roots of
inspiration. I'd like to move on now to the third movement.
It's almost like we go from the Russian reference now back to
Vienna. We hear the balanced, elegant symmetry
of this movement, which is gracious and in the meter
of 3/4. And it sounds like this.
[MUSIC]
Charming, elegant, sweet, if you will.
And then in the middle of this movement, we hear this
glorious descending C major scale. It just washes
over us, reminding us of our harmonic roots
[MUSIC]
And one last little point of intrigue.
Before this movement ends, we suddenly have a
very bizarre harmonic occurrence.
Suddenly, what rears its head is the
dissonance and mystery of the very opening measures
of this piece. I'll have you know that Beethoven
was in fact inspired by Mozart's dissonance string quartet.
The opening introduction that was dissonant and dark and mysterious
was straight out of Mozart's earlier example.
So, now we have a reference to it before we launch
into the exciting finale.
[MUSIC]
We end on a G7 chord,
which really is the dominant of the key of C major.
It's a chord that demands resolution
to C major. [PLAYS]
But instead of giving us that resolution
at the end of the third movement, he waits
and with slight pause then begins the finale movement, in
which the viola plays in C major that glorious fugato theme.
Enough words. Let's now listen
to this documentary performance of the Guarneri String Quartet,
performing the Finale of Beethoven's Opus 59 number three
string quartet in C major.
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