Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827
String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74, “Harp”, 1809
Its feels that Beethoven’s “Harp” quartet is somehow overlooked. A definite “middle period” work, it is followed quickly by the more innovative “Serioso” and then the late quartets, and it is preceded by the more landmark “Razumovsky” quartets of just a few years earlier. Even the earliest Op. 18 quartets appear more frequently on concert stages. Yet Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major is a glorious work: full, rich and befitting the middle period character known as “Eroica.” Bountiful, beneficent, lavish and even sensuous, the “Harp” even features a dash of impressionistic pointillism with the first movement’s elegant pizzicato sections giving rise to the quartet’s historical nickname. Each of the four movements is a uniquely shaped touchstone of the multi-movement sonata form types and there is an overarching vector of momentum that joins these movements into a miraculous unity of purpose, design and expression. With its prevailing vitality, heart, invention and accessibility, one is almost tempted to call this Beethoven’s most “perfect” quartet. And yet, it is devilish to play. Read the rest of this entry »
The opening chapters of an essential history of the mighty string quartet could do no better than presenting the initial call and response of two eternal masterworks: Haydn’s Op. 33 and Mozart’s six quartets dedicated to Haydn. Just before Haydn’s groundbreaking set of six quartets were published in 1781, Mozart fatefully attended (perhaps even played for) a gathering where he heard Haydn’s Op. 33 quartets first hand in what was surely their informal premiere. Mozart was now living in Vienna, learning about Bach, and here, stunned by Haydn’s latest chamber music. Over the next four years, Mozart would write string duos, trios and quartets enfolding the lessons from Bach and Haydn, culminating in a laborious two-year project yielding six new string quartets loving dedicated to Haydn himself. 
Like Schubert, Brahms apparently had many string quartets under his belt before making a published debut. Unlike Schubert, Brahms left no traces by mercilessly destroying what he deemed unworthy. Despite being “firsts”, the two quartets published as Op. 51 in 1873 when Brahms was forty must be considered mature works. And evidence suggests he worked on these quartets over an extended period of time. Brahms would write only one more string quartet a few years later. Unlike this final quartet exuberantly in B-flat major, both of the Op. 51 quartets are in a minor key, largely ponderous and dramatic, rich, thick and profound. But as always there is great variety within especially with Brahms’s signature gift for thematic variation that can completely transform the character of a theme even within the same movement. 
Schubert grew up playing chamber music with his family and composed several youthful (and quite skillful) string quartets for these domestic affairs. His mature “professional” quartets composed for public performance date from the 1820’s and include the single movement “Quartettsatz”, the “Rosamunde”, the “Death and the Maiden”, and the final epic in G major completing a lifelong set of 15 numbered quartets. Written in 1824 when Schubert was still only 27 (with only four years left), the “Rosamunde” quartet would be the only string quartet performed and published during his lifetime. Overshadowed by the more dramatic quartets that surround it chronologically, the 13th quartet is notable for its suave but dark-tinged reserve, a delicacy of atmosphere, texture and Schubert’s irrepressible signature: delicious lyricism. 
Antonín Dvořák was an absolutely superb and prolific chamber music composer, writing fourteen string quartets as well as numerous trios, quintets, sonatas and a variety of miniatures and character pieces. The “American” quartet (No. 12 in F Major) is by far his most well-known and beloved chamber work, but it may well do disservice to Dvořák by overshadowing his other mature quartets, all fantastic, and each of a unique character. Equally noteworthy is the “Slavonic” quartet (No. 10 in E-flat major) so named for its distinctive Czech and Bohemian folk references, and the final two quartets written almost as a simultaneous pair in 1895 upon Dvořák’s return from America to his homeland. Dvořák started work on the quartet in A-flat while still in America. Barely begun, he returned home and complained to friends about a creative block, a short “dry spell” without inspiration. When his muse returned, Dvořák began a fresh composition, the string quartet in G major, which he completed before returning to the A-flat quartet, which he swiftly finished. 
In 1781, after a lapse of ten years, a 49-year-old Joseph Haydn turned to the string quartet again, composing a set of six that were published the following year as Op. 33. The publication bore a dedication to the “Grand Duke of Russia” and so these quartets are most commonly known as the “Russian” quartets. The alternate nickname, Gli Scherzi (The Jokes), refers to the fact that Haydn replaced the traditional title “Minuet” with the Italian word “Scherzo,” meaning joke or playfulness. Whether these dance movements were any different than their predecessors is difficult to determine, but the birth of a new movement genre is undeniable, as history would prove. The nickname is apt here because with Op. 33, Haydn did recast the essential character of the string quartet by making it somewhat more lighthearted. Yet he also made it more sophisticated in terms of musical construction resulting in cleverness and, in several places, literal musical jokes based on confounding the expectations of common music forms and devices. In this respect the quartets are a great historical watershed. 
Although Lalo’s lasting reputation is based primarily on operatic and orchestral compositions, he demonstrated a lifelong passion for chamber music. He played violin and viola and was the founding member of the Armingaud Quartet, established in 1855 with the mission of introducing the chamber music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schumann to a French public largely obsessed with grand opera. During the 1850’s, Lalo was among the first French composers to take up chamber music composition, ultimately producing three piano trios, a violin sonata, a cello sonata and a string quartet. Although these compositions are generally outside of the traditional repertoire, they are all fine works that deserve more exposure. 
Though Carl Nielsen was an exact contemporary of Jean Sibelius, his recognition and acceptance into the repertoire came much later. During the 1930’s, Sibelius was widely regarded as one of the great living composers while Nielsen would have been largely unknown outside of Denmark. It was primarily under the aegis and baton of Leonard Bernstein in the 1960’s that Nielsen came to light as another significant 20th century European composer now celebrated for his five symphonies, some concerti and a reasonable clutch of chamber compositions including four string quartets and a one-movement quintet. As with Sibelius, Nielsen’s style is largely rooted in late romantic tonality though marked by a more contemporary freedom of tonal migration (sometimes called “progressive tonality”) and well as relaxed formal plans. Beyond these vague generalizations, Nielsen’s music is well-crafted, superbly scored and very much of a unique, individual style. His final String Quartet No. 4 in F major, Op. 44 is a well-kept secret: rarely played but well worth appreciating. 
Although there are literally dozens of noteworthy “Scandinavian” composers from the classical, romantic and especially modern eras, Grieg and Sibelius are apt to comprise the short list for most listeners. Sibelius was Finnish, technically not Scandinavian, though Finland is often referenced in a broader sense of Scandinavian culture. He experienced a vogue of international fame in the mid-20th century largely for his orchestral works including a celebrated cycle of seven symphonies and several tone poems representing Sibelius as a great Finnish nationalist. He was also prolific in composing chamber music though most of his quartets and trios remain outside the repertoire, regarded as “juvenilia”, house or even salon music in a light style for practical entertainment. The clear exception is the masterful String Quartet in d minor written by a 44-year-old Sibelius in 1909 just a few years after Carl Nielsen’s final quartet. The title “Intimate Voices” comes from an inscription over the staff in the third movement Adagio. 
1799 quietly witnessed a great turning point in the history of the string quartet. With Mozart gone, both an elderly Haydn and a young Beethoven were simultaneously working on a new set of string quartets: Haydn’s last and Beethoven’s first. On this noteworthy “passing of the baton”, the composers shared a common patron. A young Price Lobkowitz commissioned both composers around the same time. Beethoven’s Op. 18 was published at the end of 1801, Haydn’s Op. 77 in early 1802. It is no surprise that Haydn’s last quartets are often called “Beethovenian” just as Beethoven’s first quartets may be called “Haydnesque.” Together, they comprise a great high water mark of the mature Viennese style before Beethoven’s middle period expansion. And just as Beethoven’s quartets are “early”, hewing close to Haydn as a model, Haydn’s final quartets represent his own most modern, consolidated and polished efforts in the form with many forward looking aspects.