String Quartet No. 11 (Beethoven)
Encyclopedia
Ludwig van Beethoven
's opus
95, his String Quartet No. 11 in F minor
, is his last before his exalted late string quartets. It is commonly referred to as the "Serioso," stemming from his title "Quartett[o] Serioso" at the beginning and the tempo designation for the third movement.
It is one of the shortest and most compact of all the Beethoven quartets, and shares a tonality (F) with the first and last quartets Beethoven published (Op. 18, no. 1
, and Op. 135
). In character and key, as well as in the presence of a final frenetic section in the parallel major, it is related to another composition of Beethoven's middle period — the overture
to his incidental music
for Goethe
's drama Egmont
, which he was composing in the same year he was working on this quartet.
The autograph manuscript for this quartet is inscribed "October 1810", but the paper on which it appears does not match the variety Beethoven is known to have used at that time. It is more likely that he finished it several months later. It premiered in 1814 and did not appear in print until two years later. Beethoven was quoted as saying "The Quartet [Op. 95] is written for a small circle of connoisseurs and is never to be performed in public." Upon listening to the piece, it becomes apparent why he made that assertion. This piece would have been quite out of character in 1810: it is an experiment on compositional techniques the composer would draw on later in his life. (Techniques such as shorter developments, interesting use of silences, metric ambiguity, seemingly unrelated outbursts, and more freedom with tonality in his sonata form.)
The historical picture of this time period helps to put the piece in context. Napoleon had invaded Vienna
earlier that year, and this upset Beethoven greatly. All of his aristocratic friends had fled Vienna, but Beethoven stayed and dramatically complained about the loud bombings.
s, the piece is in four movements:
.
Exposition (mm. 1-59)
TG I, fm (mm. 1-21)
Neapolitan
(G chord) important (m. 6, 19); the Neapolitan appears in root position, not its normal first inversion, and the large-scale tritone motion of the bass voice (from G in m.6 to C in m.10) again emphasizes the strident nature of this movement. Ends on a half-cadence on the downbeat of measure 21.
Transition (m. 21-23)
The unison C on the downbeat of measure 21 (V in F minor) is reinterpreted immediately as the leading tone to the second tonal area, D major. A very short transitional phrase solidifies the move to D Major.
2nd tonal area, DM (mm. 24-57)
This is signified by a 2-measure long lyrical melody first stated in the viola, then passing through the cello and second violin, then cello again. A long V of D (mm. 32-37) is unexpectedly resolved to A major, which is simply a deceptive V-bVI cadence (VI of D major would be B, here enharmonically respelled as A). The A major chord is also V of the Neapolitan (II in D major would be E, enharmonically respelled as D). This V-I motion of the Neapolitan is explicitly stated by the quartet in unison in measure 39. Measures 40-43 return to the lyrical nature of the second theme and solidify D major. A modified counterstatement of this entire gesture occurs, landing us on an even more explicit use of the Neapolitan, again enharmonically respelled as D-natural, in measures 49-50.
Closing (mm. 58-59)
Note: There is no repeat of this already very short exposition. This adds to the startling nature of this piece as a whole.
Development (mm. 60-81)
FM cm CM
m. 60 ? m. 77
The expected dominant pedal occurs beginning in m. 77, but the C prolongation is in the first violin.
Recapitulation (mm. 82-128)
1st theme is shorter this time (4 measures is all).
The 3-measure transitional phrase reappears (mm. 86-87), but is not recomposed as would be expected. We are again taken to Db Major.
2nd theme begins in DM again (it does not need to be in the primary key like one would ordinarily expect in the recap because the second theme is not in the dominant or relative major). However, it does occur in the tonic major (F Major) beginning in measure 93. The move to a D Major chord in measure 107 corresponds to the similar passage in measure 49, but here the D Major chord functions as a V/ii, which initiates a circle-of-fifths progression (D - G - C - F), arriving on F in measure 112.
Coda (mm. 130-end)
Begins in VI (D Major). Primary scalar motive of the beginning is developed. This coda is shorter than one might expect considering the already short development.
As Arnold Schoenberg
notes in an essay reprinted in the collection Style and Idea, most of the themes and events of this movement - and the main theme of the second movement - contain some form of the motive D - C - D - E found in the second bar, even if transposed and changed in some way.
This movement is in D major, a startling and remote key from the f minor first movement.
A (mm. 1-34)
B (mm. 35-64) Fugato section. This eventually falls apart.
| The descending scalar cello leads through ever modulating tonalities starting a tritone away from the opening scale!
B' (mm. 77-112) Fugato is back to give it another try.
A' (mm. 112-183) Melody is now an octave higher
form, as typical in the third movement position. Although because of the very odd tempo marking Maynard Solomon
warns against calling it a scherzo, preferring the phrase "march-trio."
Scherzo (mm. 1-40, with a repeat)
Trio (mm. 41-102)
Scherzo (mm. 103-144)
Trio (mm. 145-182)
Scherzo (mm. 183-206) This time the tempo increases (Più Allegro)
.
In a sonata-rondo, the piece follows the thematic outline of a rondo (ABACABA), and the tonal outline of a sonata (I V I or i III i, etc.)
Beethoven uses Mozart's favorite rondo form for this movement (ABACBA). The absence of the A theme in between the C and second B is a surprise, and adds interest by reducing the repetition of the A theme.
Intro (mm. 1-9) fm (Larghetto expressivo)
A (10-32) fm (Allegretto agitato) *It might be prudent to note that the "missing A" from the typical rondo-sonata form could be analyzed as being shifted from its "rightful" place after "C" to a more intriguing place in m. 23.
B (32, 50) cm
A' (51-64) fm
C (65-82)
B' (82-97) Here's where the sonata part of sonata-rondo comes in. This time it's in fm instead of cm.
A' (98-132) fm
Coda (133-175) FM! (Allegro) This fantastically light and bouncy ending is in sharp contrast to the dark, stormy, introspective mood of the rest of the quartet. As Basil Lam
said: this "comic-opera ending, [is] absurdly and deliberately unrelated to the 'quartett serioso'- the true Shakespearean touch that provides the final confirmation of the truth of the rest."
Beethoven's Tempo Markings:
I. half note = 92
II. quarter = 66
III. dotted half = 69
IV. Larghetto espressivo, eighth = 56; Allegretto agitato, dotted quarter = 92; Allegro, whole = 92
quartet, that Gustav Mahler
arranged for use by a string orchestra, mostly by doubling some of the cello parts with double basses.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's opus
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
95, his String Quartet No. 11 in F minor
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The harmonic minor raises the E to E. Its key signature has four flats ....
, is his last before his exalted late string quartets. It is commonly referred to as the "Serioso," stemming from his title "Quartett[o] Serioso" at the beginning and the tempo designation for the third movement.
It is one of the shortest and most compact of all the Beethoven quartets, and shares a tonality (F) with the first and last quartets Beethoven published (Op. 18, no. 1
String Quartet No. 1 (Beethoven)
The String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1798 and 1800 and published in 1801. It is actually the second string quartet that Beethoven composed.The quartet consists of four movements:...
, and Op. 135
String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)
The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last substantial work he finished. Only the last movement of the Quartet op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was written later. It was premiered by the Schuppanzigh...
). In character and key, as well as in the presence of a final frenetic section in the parallel major, it is related to another composition of Beethoven's middle period — the overture
Overture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
to his incidental music
Egmont (Beethoven)
Egmont, Op. 84, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is a set of incidental music pieces for the 1787 play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It consists of an overture followed by a sequence of nine additional pieces for soprano, male narrator and full symphony orchestra...
for Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's drama Egmont
Egmont (play)
Egmont is a play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which he completed in 1788. Its dramaturgical structure, like that of his earlier 'Storm and Stress' play Götz von Berlichingen , is heavily influenced by Shakespearean tragedy; in contrast, however, to the earlier work, the portrait in Egmont of the...
, which he was composing in the same year he was working on this quartet.
The autograph manuscript for this quartet is inscribed "October 1810", but the paper on which it appears does not match the variety Beethoven is known to have used at that time. It is more likely that he finished it several months later. It premiered in 1814 and did not appear in print until two years later. Beethoven was quoted as saying "The Quartet [Op. 95] is written for a small circle of connoisseurs and is never to be performed in public." Upon listening to the piece, it becomes apparent why he made that assertion. This piece would have been quite out of character in 1810: it is an experiment on compositional techniques the composer would draw on later in his life. (Techniques such as shorter developments, interesting use of silences, metric ambiguity, seemingly unrelated outbursts, and more freedom with tonality in his sonata form.)
The historical picture of this time period helps to put the piece in context. Napoleon had invaded Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
earlier that year, and this upset Beethoven greatly. All of his aristocratic friends had fled Vienna, but Beethoven stayed and dramatically complained about the loud bombings.
Movements
As is standard for string quartetString quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, the piece is in four movements:
- Allegro con brio common timeCommon Time"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
- Allegretto ma non troppo 2/4 D majorD majorD major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
attacca subito: - Allegro assai vivace ma serioso; Piu allegro 3/4 F minor - D major - F minor - D major - C minorC minorC minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B. Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with naturals and accidentals as necessary.Its key signature consists of three flats...
- F minor - Larghetto espressivo; Allegretto agitato; Allegro 2/4 F minor - 6/8 - cut time
Movement I (Allegro con brio)
This movement is in sonata formSonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
.
Exposition (mm. 1-59)
TG I, fm (mm. 1-21)
Neapolitan
Neapolitan chord
In music theory, a Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the lowered second scale degree. It most commonly occurs in first inversion so that it is notated either as II6 or N6 and normally referred to as a Neapolitan sixth chord...
(G chord) important (m. 6, 19); the Neapolitan appears in root position, not its normal first inversion, and the large-scale tritone motion of the bass voice (from G in m.6 to C in m.10) again emphasizes the strident nature of this movement. Ends on a half-cadence on the downbeat of measure 21.
Transition (m. 21-23)
The unison C on the downbeat of measure 21 (V in F minor) is reinterpreted immediately as the leading tone to the second tonal area, D major. A very short transitional phrase solidifies the move to D Major.
2nd tonal area, DM (mm. 24-57)
This is signified by a 2-measure long lyrical melody first stated in the viola, then passing through the cello and second violin, then cello again. A long V of D (mm. 32-37) is unexpectedly resolved to A major, which is simply a deceptive V-bVI cadence (VI of D major would be B, here enharmonically respelled as A). The A major chord is also V of the Neapolitan (II in D major would be E, enharmonically respelled as D). This V-I motion of the Neapolitan is explicitly stated by the quartet in unison in measure 39. Measures 40-43 return to the lyrical nature of the second theme and solidify D major. A modified counterstatement of this entire gesture occurs, landing us on an even more explicit use of the Neapolitan, again enharmonically respelled as D-natural, in measures 49-50.
Closing (mm. 58-59)
Note: There is no repeat of this already very short exposition. This adds to the startling nature of this piece as a whole.
Development (mm. 60-81)
FM cm CM
m. 60 ? m. 77
The expected dominant pedal occurs beginning in m. 77, but the C prolongation is in the first violin.
Recapitulation (mm. 82-128)
1st theme is shorter this time (4 measures is all).
The 3-measure transitional phrase reappears (mm. 86-87), but is not recomposed as would be expected. We are again taken to Db Major.
2nd theme begins in DM again (it does not need to be in the primary key like one would ordinarily expect in the recap because the second theme is not in the dominant or relative major). However, it does occur in the tonic major (F Major) beginning in measure 93. The move to a D Major chord in measure 107 corresponds to the similar passage in measure 49, but here the D Major chord functions as a V/ii, which initiates a circle-of-fifths progression (D - G - C - F), arriving on F in measure 112.
Coda (mm. 130-end)
Begins in VI (D Major). Primary scalar motive of the beginning is developed. This coda is shorter than one might expect considering the already short development.
As Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
notes in an essay reprinted in the collection Style and Idea, most of the themes and events of this movement - and the main theme of the second movement - contain some form of the motive D - C - D - E found in the second bar, even if transposed and changed in some way.
Movement II (Allegretto ma non troppo)
A B | B A form.This movement is in D major, a startling and remote key from the f minor first movement.
A (mm. 1-34)
B (mm. 35-64) Fugato section. This eventually falls apart.
| The descending scalar cello leads through ever modulating tonalities starting a tritone away from the opening scale!
B' (mm. 77-112) Fugato is back to give it another try.
A' (mm. 112-183) Melody is now an octave higher
Movement III (Allegro assai vivace ma serioso)
This movement is in scherzoScherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
form, as typical in the third movement position. Although because of the very odd tempo marking Maynard Solomon
Maynard Solomon
Maynard Solomon has carried out a multiple career: he was a co-founder of Vanguard Records as well as a music producer, and later became a writer on music.-Career in the recording industry:...
warns against calling it a scherzo, preferring the phrase "march-trio."
Scherzo (mm. 1-40, with a repeat)
Trio (mm. 41-102)
Scherzo (mm. 103-144)
Trio (mm. 145-182)
Scherzo (mm. 183-206) This time the tempo increases (Più Allegro)
Movement IV (Larghetto espressivo; Allegretto agitato; Allegro)
This is in the sometimes misunderstood sonata rondo formSonata rondo form
Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata form and rondo form.- Structure :...
.
In a sonata-rondo, the piece follows the thematic outline of a rondo (ABACABA), and the tonal outline of a sonata (I V I or i III i, etc.)
Beethoven uses Mozart's favorite rondo form for this movement (ABACBA). The absence of the A theme in between the C and second B is a surprise, and adds interest by reducing the repetition of the A theme.
Intro (mm. 1-9) fm (Larghetto expressivo)
A (10-32) fm (Allegretto agitato) *It might be prudent to note that the "missing A" from the typical rondo-sonata form could be analyzed as being shifted from its "rightful" place after "C" to a more intriguing place in m. 23.
B (32, 50) cm
A' (51-64) fm
C (65-82)
B' (82-97) Here's where the sonata part of sonata-rondo comes in. This time it's in fm instead of cm.
A' (98-132) fm
Coda (133-175) FM! (Allegro) This fantastically light and bouncy ending is in sharp contrast to the dark, stormy, introspective mood of the rest of the quartet. As Basil Lam
Basil Lam
Basil Lam was an English early music scholar and harpsichordist. A producer for the Third Programme of the BBC since its inception in September 1946, Lam eventually became head of the classical musical division of the BBC in the 1960s...
said: this "comic-opera ending, [is] absurdly and deliberately unrelated to the 'quartett serioso'- the true Shakespearean touch that provides the final confirmation of the truth of the rest."
Beethoven's Tempo Markings:
I. half note = 92
II. quarter = 66
III. dotted half = 69
IV. Larghetto espressivo, eighth = 56; Allegretto agitato, dotted quarter = 92; Allegro, whole = 92
Further reading
These sources contain information specifically about the Op. 95 quartet.- Kerman, Joseph, The Beethoven Quartets, pp. 168–187
- Solomon, Maynard Beethoven, pp. 195, 236, 269, 272-273
- Wolff, Christoph, ed. The String Quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, pp. 233–235.
- Lam, Basil, Beethoven String Quartets 2, pp. 1–11.
Arrangements
This is one of the quartet works, along with Schubert's Death and the MaidenDeath and the Maiden Quartet (Schubert)
The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as Death and the Maiden, by Franz Schubert, is one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, after the composer suffered through a serious illness and realized that he was dying, it is Schubert's testament to death...
quartet, that Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
arranged for use by a string orchestra, mostly by doubling some of the cello parts with double basses.