Passion and expression
Beethoven Op. 18, No. 1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato
In the first movement of this F major Quartet (Op. 18, No. 1), Beethoven crafted a lively and tightly-wound movement that made extensive use of motivic work (read more about that here). The following movement throws us for a loop. We leave the bright world of F major for the dark, tragic universe of D minor. And what follows is one of Beethoven’s most chilling and terrifyingly beautiful early slow movements.
Sorrow and Longing
It begins with the pulsing (highlighted in dark blue) of the cello, viola, and second violin. The first violin follows with an elegiac melody (highlighted in dark red) that is mournful and longing.
To fully appreciate the complete change of mood from the first to the second movement, let’s listen to the end of the first movement.
And now listen to the beginning of the second movement and notice how different the atmosphere is.
What a change of mood!
Let’s listen again to the opening, because I want to draw your attention to two aspects of this elegiac melody that Beethoven will use throughout this movement. The first is the rising four notes in the first violin, that we’ll simply call the “rising” motif (outlined in pink). The second is the return of the “turn” motif from the first movement (outlined in red). Later there’s another turn that Beethoven will vary throughout this movement.
After this dark and sorrowful opening phrase, Beethoven continues with another phrase that introduces another important element of this movement: silence. It may seem strange to talk about the importance of silence when talking about music, but the silence in this movement is really a character of its own. Sometimes it makes us reflect on what we just heard; other times it deafens us with its emptiness; and at other times it terrifies us about what just happened and what might happen next. Beethoven uses these silences in very effective ways to provoke an emotional reaction from the listener.
Bittersweet memories
After a transition that takes us from the dark D minor to the brighter F major, we arrive at the second theme. The second theme (highlighted in green) is shared between the violins and seems, given what we’ve just heard, to evoke bittersweet memories. You’ll also see the turn motif from the first theme reappear. The viola continues the pulsing which acts as a sort of heartbeat throughout the movement.
And remember that rising motif from the opening theme? Well, it appears in its inverted form (basically just flipped over) in the cello as if to haunt the lovely melody in the violins, reminding us of the overall tragic atmosphere of this movement.
Soon after we hear a melody (derived from the turn motif) travel through the quartet, accompanied by intermittent pulsing in the other instruments. This leads us to a prayer-like melody (highlighted in brown) that ends the exposition peacefully.
Dramatic development
The development opens with renewed hope or maybe uncertainty, until the second violin and viola crash into the elegiac theme (now sounding enraged), punctuated with outbursts (highlighted in purple) in the first violin. The cello pulses away leading us to darker and darker tonalities.
After this dramatic explosion, the music suddenly turns to a whisper. The first violin and viola pass the rising motif from the first theme. The cello takes over the outburst figure which has shred its angry tones and now seems to be searching for something.
The development ends with four chords, separated by long silences, each chord progressively softer. These silences are now heavy with resignation after the dramatic upheaval of the development.
Tragedy and terror
As the recapitulation begins with the pulsing viola and cello, a new ominous, undulating figure is taken up by the second violin. The elegiac theme now seems infused with anxiety. It is twice interrupted by the second violin and viola who play a version of the outburst motif subito forte (suddenly loud). This theme is no longer mournful and longing, it is full of tragedy and terror.
The recapitulation unfolds largely how we might expect, that is, similarly to the exposition. As we again hear the prayer-like melody that ended the exposition, we expect the music to come to a peaceful end. But alas, it doesn’t. Instead of the two quiet chords that signaled the end of the exposition, we get nervous trembling in the viola and second violin, an accelerated pulsing like an elevated heartbeat. An impending sense of doom takes over the music.
As the cello plays the elegiac theme in its upper register, the first violin cries out in terror. The outbursts return even more menacing than the last time. The music arrives at the final passage of silences. This one, truly terrifying, includes the outburst motif in the first violin, each time reaching higher and higher as if to plead for mercy.
The terrible outbursts quickly fade, the pulsing returns in the viola. The first violin lets out a final few sighs grasping for something lost. The pulsing stops, and the music ends in a whisper.
Lovers parting
Scene from Romeo and Juliet — The Tomb
by Frank Dicksee
Beethoven’s good friend and recipient of the first version of this quartet, Karl Amanda, remembered that upon first hearing this movement he mentioned to the composer that it reminded him of “two lovers parting”, to which Beethoven replied, “Good! I was thinking of the tomb scene in Romeo and Juliet”. Indeed, in his first version of this quartet, Beethoven had written over certain bars of the ending “he enters the tomb”, “despair”, “he kills himself”, and “last sighs”.
Certainly, Beethoven did not mean for this music to depict a defined story, as he did not include these inscriptions in the final published score. However, he was obviously inspired by Shakespeare’s tragic story and felt the need to express such horrible despair, tragedy, and terror in his music.
In this movement, Beethoven achieved one of the very best movements he had written up to this point in his life. In it, he expresses a range of human emotion in a heart-on-the-sleeve manner that no other composer had attempted before. Sitting in the middle of the three other mostly sunny movements of this quartet, Beethoven expanded the emotional range of what a string quartet could probe. He would, of course, continue this emotional exploration in his string quartets throughout his life. And in a way, this movement looks forward to the earth-shattering slow movements of his late quartets.
If you enjoyed learning about this wonderful movement, consider joining us for our live performance of this piece and Beethoven’s D major Quartet (Op. 18, No. 3) on 11 November 2023. Next week, we’ll explore the final two movements of this quartet.