Humour and Surprise
Beethoven Op. 18, No. 1: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
Traditionally the third movement of a quartet is a Minuet, a graceful dance in three time. Whilst other composers used Scherzos in lieu of the Minuet, Beethoven almost exclusively preferred them. Scherzo literally means “joke” in Italian, and Beethoven’s scherzos really play around with listeners. They run at a brisk tempo and surprise us at every turn. This one is no exception.
Musical Humour
Humour is all about setting up expectations and then subverting them. The same is true about humour in music, and this is exactly what Beethoven does in this scherzo. He sets up expectations with a short melody in the cello. This melody is comprised of two motifs: one that rises (highlighted in light orange) and one that falls (highlighted in dark orange).
He ends this phrase with a trill motif, highlighted in light blue first piano, then as a little surprise, forte.
Just so we get it in our ears, this part is then repeated.
Before we leave this opening phrase, let me point out an expectation that Beethoven is already subverting. We expect that it will be in the home key of F major and will stay there. Why do we expect this? Because that is exactly what the form of the music requires. Indeed, we do start in F major (as expected) but quite quickly we move through a series of unexpected keys. If you don’t understand anything about harmony, this one might pass you by, but try to hear how quickly moving from key to key gives the music a sense of adventure.
It’s subtle, but it is an example of Beethoven subverting our expectations right from the start. So far, Beethoven has introduced us to the main rising and falling motifs and a playful trill motif. He has also presented a harmonic motion that moves up by one step (F to G to A).
After this, he surprisingly moves away from the key he just established (C major) to go instead to A-flat major and then f minor, again subverting our expectations.
Then the opening phrase returns with the rising and falling motifs exchanged between viola and cello. This time the music moves quickly from C to D-flat to E-flat to F. So many quick harmonic changes!
A new leaping motif (highlighted in pink) is now introduced.
The quartet then settles into C major by passing around the rising motif before returning to F major.
The opening phrase returns, but this time it takes a different turn. The quartet seems to question where they’re going as the music progressively gets softer and softer. Then the trill motif takes over.
The music then swells before ending with some off-beat accents.
All of this passes very quickly and perhaps all these “surprises” are imperceptible at such a great speed. If you don’t necessarily hear all of these subtleties, that’s okay. You will probably notice that the music is lively and colourful, and that’s all you need to hear. But now you know some more about musical humour and how composers subvert our expectations. Luckily, there’s a repeat of this whole section, so we get to listen to it again. Let’s listen to the whole second half of the scherzo with all the annotations.
Contrasts
The contrasting section of the movement, known as the trio, throws us for some more loops. It opens with the return of the leaping motif from the scherzo, this time played by all voices in fortissimo.
After this, the harmony takes an unexpected turn to the distant key of D-flat major as the first violin plays a whirling scale up and down (highlighted in purple) as the others provide jolting sforzandi.
The viola and cello pass around the leaping motif as we travel through many different keys.
Then everyone joins in on the leaping motif before the first violin launches into a virtuosic passage of the whirling scales that takes through more unexpected keys. This leads us back to a repeat of the scherzo.
After this exhilarating trio, the quartet repeats the scherzo in full. It’s a movement that is brisk and full of surprises and charm. This comes as a welcome respite from the tragic second movement.
Next week, we’ll explore the exciting finale to this masterful early quartet of Beethoven’s.