The Quartet in A minor, by Ludwig Van Beethoven, opus 132 was written in 1825, given its public premiere on November 6 of that year by the Schuppanzigh Quartet and was dedicated to Count Nicolai Galitzkin, as were opera 127, 130 and 131. The movements are
- Assai sostenuto — Allegro
- Allegro ma non troppo
- Molto Adagio — Andante — Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart
- Alla Marcia, assai vivace (attacca)
- Allegro appasionata — Presto
The markings that precede and are interspersed throughout the movements are explained in the article tempo.
The slow introduction to the first movement, like that of the fourteenth quartet, is based on a motif that recurs throughout the late quartets and in the Grosse Fuge as well. The movement's unusual structure was described by Roger Sessions as more of a triple exposition than a normal sonata form in his classes.
The second movement is a minuet with trio, rather than the scherzo with repeated trio that Beethoven used most often in his works starting with the Eroica. The trio evokes a musette with its melodies over sustained tonic (here, A) tones.
The third movement is the longest in the quartet, and it formally alternates slow sections in a modal F with faster sections, "Neue Kraft fühlend" (with renewed strength), in D. Beethoven wrote this section after recovering from a serious illness which he had feared was fatal. He thus headed the movement with the words, "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart" (Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode).
A brief A major march connects to the rondo-finale by a recitative-like passage. One finds in Beethoven's sketches that the theme like that of the theme of this rondo was originally meant for an (abandoned, and the famous choral inspiration having taken its place) instrumental conclusion to his ninth symphony.* This A minor rondo ends in a substantial major-mode coda in two parts.
* Sessions' book below contains this information about the quartet's finale, and his opinions of the first movement also.
Book
Sessions, Roger. The Musical Experience of Composer, Performer, Listener. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1958. Paperback.
External links
Last updated: 05-27-2005 07:36:38
