“La Malinconia”
Although written fifth, Beethoven probably placed
the B-flat Major quartet last because of the lengthy, slow introduction to the
last movement, La Malinconia (melancholy), which gave
the work its subtitle. Musically, this
movement is decades ahead of the rest of Opus 18. In many ways it presages his last quartets
with its moving evocation of grief; it offers, as well, an insight into the
depths of Beethoven’s personal despair.
The first movement opens with a vigorous,
upward-leaping theme in the first violin that becomes a duet with the cello. The far less agile subsidiary theme stays
rooted on one note and then another. It
ends on a sustained note, anticipating the return of the little-changed
original melodies. The Adagio’s
refined and dignified theme is introduced by the violin over a bare-bones
accompaniment. The stately mood is
unceremoniously shattered by the eccentric Scherzo that follows. Full of rhythmic verve, it is constantly
being tripped up and sabotaged by misplaced accents and cross rhythms. The
slight Trio, a flowing violin solo, leads back to a literal repeat of
the scherzo. The Finale, the heart of the entire composition, begins
with the astounding Malinconia, which Beethoven
directs “must be played with the greatest delicacy.” Woven throughout is a three-dash note turn,
or gruppeto, inserted as a decoration
preceding alternating loud and soft chords, and which add even more gloom to
the phrase. The main body of the
movement is fast, in the style of a dansa alla tedesca (German
Dance), but the gay dance never succeeds in raising the pall cast by La Malinconia. He
interrupts it twice with short reminders of the introduction before letting the
tedesca dash furiously to the powerful last chords.
The Demeter Prelude
Brouwer
The works of Margaret Brouwer, who
heads the Composition Department at the Cleveland Institute
are lyrical, accessible and powerful. The New York Times adds
’bewitching, with no obvious concession to the styles of the day.’ Demeter is about the battle of wits, power,
and force of will between Demeter, Zeus and Hades; about Demeter’s struggles to
obtain the release of her daughter, daughter, Persephone, who has been abducted to
the Underworld by Hades. It is about Demeter's character and personality as
imagined by the composer, and about the many adventures she has while searching
for Persephone. Finally, it is about
Demeter's confrontation with Zeus and Hades.
Dvorak completed this, his best-known quartet, in six days
while summering in the tiny Czech farming community of
The first movement, Allegro ma non troppo,
is based on the five-tone pentatonic scale (the black keys of a piano), a
common feature of folk songs around the world.
Against a shimmering background the viola sings out the first jaunty
tune. After the confident swagger of the
viola melody, the second theme, played by the first violin, seems tentative and
restrained; a fugato based on the second subject acts as a transition to the
restatement of both themes. The Lento,
widely considered the crowning movement of the quartet, is a lovely emotional
aria with the first violin and cello involved with the melody and the second
violin and viola sustaining a busy, flowing accompaniment. The movement starts quietly and builds
gradually to an impassioned climax before fading to a subdued close, as the
cello nostalgically takes the melody for the last time, accompanied by
alternate bowed and plucked notes.
Although cast in A-B-A-B-A form, the third movement is essentially
monothematic, since its “B” is little more than a slower version of “A”, the
middle part of which is based on the song of the scarlet tanager, which Dvorák heard on his walks around Spillville. The Finale
immediately establishes a rhythmic pattern that may be an adaptation of native
Indian drumming. The first violin dances
its joyful tune with and around the continuing beat. Other melodies follow, all with the same
high-spirited good humor. In the middle
of the movement, the tempo slows, and Dvorák
introduces a chorale, probably derived from one of the hymns that he enjoyed
playing on the organ for services at Saint Wenceslas church in Spillville.
Following the chorale is a shortened restatement leading to a resolutely
happy ending.
exquisite music - superbly performed