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using the same theme. The opening ominous, hornlike tone descending to the note a half step below it is in the fourth movement freed from that scary chromatic half step, and interval becomes a whole step (instead of a half step). This liberated two-note motif then becomes a cascade of linked three-note figures for the rest of the six-minute movement, joy sprung from distrust.
Although the piece finds its identity in the fourth move- ment, it remains until then exuberantly rootless, which is somewhat unique, as the enormous structures necessary for quartets generally have to have harmonic underpinnings. But Beethoven is determined to face a world of chaos with optimism at the end. But this happy ending must be wrung from depressing reality. Redemption can’t be a false hope, but must be wrung out of despair.
This isn’t so much Beethoven as Haydn, but, as
The Beethoven Quartet Companion points out, not the Haydn who gave Beethoven indifferent lessons, but the Haydn who composed “The Representation of Chaos” in The Creation (written five years before this quartet).
This quartet is called the “Dissonant” because of its Schoenberg-like beginning, which even today is disturbing to the ear. Like fractals, these initial chaotic patterns can be seen as intentional structures from an enormous distance, and with enough time. But initially, this world of dimin- ished chords does not resolve pleasantly but instead leads
to diminished worlds in other galaxies. Beethoven moves through every note for an octave and a half, through fifteen modulations, and each one is unexpected and shocking. There is no solace, no escape from this new world of despair. Its pain never arrives at comfort. As the cello descends, the violin climbs.
The quartet arrives at a very unconvincing resolution in the key of C (supposedly its home key), but it isn’t until more instability is endured that the key of C becomes prevalent. But the destination of this search for meaning must wait for the fourth movement.
The second movement begins in A minor with a very Schubertian theme which critics associate with the Russian steppes. Many sforzandos disrupt the otherwise constant run of notes, like footsteps in the snow.
Suddenly the procession breaks into a more Mozartean
A major in the midsection before reverting to the minor mode, which in the development flirts with many keys, some joyous, some dubious, before reverting to the original minor dirge and finishing with a short bass cadenza.
The Trio in the third movement has the jabbing triplets of the well-known Fifth Symphony theme. The movement continues until it ends in mid-phrase to segue immediately into the fourth movement.
The fourth movement is a false fugue, more of an exuberant rondo. The entrance of each instrument must be split-second, or chaos will result.
Arnold Steinhardt (the first violin of the legendary Guarneri String Quartet) says in Coursera, an online course from the Curtis Institute of Music:
The last movement has an almost impossible metronome marking. The intonation must be flawless, the speed enormous, and the tempo sustained. But at the same time the movement
has to sound easy. Accompanied by fireworks. You can hear the good cheer in the opening of each instrument. This is a playground where the music can frolic. Themes are tossed around like hot potatoes . . . This is a razzle-dazzle movement. And then comes something completely unexpect- ed: the second violin provides a deliciously soaring melody, one that no longer requires circus-like technique, but the touch of an artist.
Simply by turning the minor “neighbor-note” dissonance into a major note, the darkling plain of uncertainty is liberated
2018 Summer Season 247