Quartet in A major, Op.18/5
Allegro
Menuetto e Trio
Andante Cantabile
Allegro
The great cycle of string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven follows the composer’s development out from under the shadows of Haydn and Mozart and towards the very limits of the form, and of instrumental music itself. Every one of the 16 quartets, moreover, is a masterpiece – Beethoven left no unsuccessful experiments, and this is apparent from his first published works for the medium, the six Opus 18 Quartets of 1801. They are his most overtly "classical" quartets – he even published them, as was the custom of the time, in two subscription-sets of three quartets each. His model for Opus 18 seems to have been Mozart’s set of six quartets dating from 1785, themselves dedicated to the founding master of the classical string quartet, Joseph Haydn. This quartet in particular seems to have had a specific Mozartian model, Mozart’s quartet in A major, K.464, about which Beethoven is reported to have said "That’s what I call a work! In it, Mozart was telling the world ‘Look what I could do if you were ready for it’". It’s easy to understand how this quartet must have appealed to the individualistic and self-confident young Beethoven, but, from the start, the Quartet Op.18/5 is unmistakably his own.
This is clear from the very opening of the quartet. The overall layout of the opening Allegro is classical sonata-form, the turns of phrase are elegant, but from the energetic rising figure which launches the movement there is that level of drive and vigour which is the hallmark of the mature Beethoven. The Menuetto e Trio is outwardly formal and measured, but it wanders into darker regions in the second half of the Menuetto, with unexpected off-beat accents in the Trio. In the Andante Cantabile, a tranquil, songlike melody serves as the basis for a series of decorative variations, eventually developing into a brisk march before ending once more in tranquility. The quartet concludes with a finale in which limitless energy is not suppressed but is perfectly controlled; rarely loud and never noisy. It speeds with total assurance to a beautifully-gauged quiet pay-off. Beethoven had been writing string chamber music in different forms for fifteen years by the time he wrote this work – his long apprenticeship meant that he could enter the realm of the quartet with complete mastery.
Richard Bratby, 1998
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
CLICK HERE for a wide and diverse selection of contemporary music and standard repertoire programme notes.