1810-1842 String Quartets (non-Beethoven)

Question 1

How many string quartets did Schubert write? Name four.

Answer 1

Franz Schubert

• 15 numbered string quartets
• several single movements, fragments, and lost works for string quartet

1. String Quartet No.12 in c “Quartettsatz” (“Quartet movement”), Op.posth., D.703 (1820)
2. String Quartet No.13 in a “Rosamunde”, Op.29, D.804 (1824)
3. String Quartet No.14 in d “Death and the Maiden”, D.810 (1824)
4. String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887 (1826)

Question 2

Piece: string quartet by Schubert, 12.

Answer 2

String Quartet No.12 in c “Quartettsatz” (“Quartet movement”), Op.posth., D.703 (1820)

• It is the first movement, of a Twelfth String Quartet which Schubert never completed. In addition to the opening movement, Schubert also composed the first forty bars of a second movement marked Andante. The unfinished quartet is regarded as one of the first products of Schubert’s mature phase of composition.
• It belongs to the same period as the Arpeggione Sonata, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression.
• After 1820, Schubert returned to the string quartet form, which he had last visited as a teenager. This, along with Rosamunde and Death and the Maiden quartets, were a huge step forward from his initial attempts. In the later quartets, the part writing is much more advanced, and each instrument brings its own character and presence, for a more complex and integrated texture. Also, the later quartets are structurally much more integrated, with motifs, harmonies, and textures recurring in a way that ties the entire work together.
• The composition consists of a single sonata form movement marked Allego assai, and features a tremolo-like texture at the opening. The existing first movement proves remarkable, with its chromatic and agitated first subject and lilting A flat second subject.

Question 3

Piece: string quartet by Schubert, 13.

Answer 3

String Quartet No.13 in a “Rosamunde”, Op.29, D.804 (1824)

• It belongs to the same period as the Arpeggione Sonata, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression.
• After 1820, Schubert returned to the string quartet form, which he had last visited as a teenager. The music is now in a mood that echoes in feeling and motif that of his setting of Schiller’s nostalgic poem Die Götter Griechenlands, with its thoughts of a happier, golden age in Schöne Welt, wo bist du? This, along with Quartettsatz and Death and the Maiden quartets, were a huge step forward from his initial attempts. In the later quartets, the part writing is much more advanced, and each instrument brings its own character and presence, for a more complex and integrated texture. Also, the later quartets are structurally much more integrated, with motifs, harmonies, and textures recurring in a way that ties the entire work together.
• 1. The first movement opens in a way reminiscent of the melancholic theme from one of Schubert’s earliest songs, Gretchen am Spinnrade and also quotes “Schöne Welt, wo bist du?”. It opens with an ominous accompanying figure from viola and cello, while the second violin weaves another accompanying pattern, to be joined by the first violin, which announces the moving principal subject, into which a shaft of sunlight breaks. The passage that leads to the serene C major second subject is strongly dramatic. It is the material of the first subject that starts the central development, and the accompanying figure of the opening, insistent throughout this section, leads back to the first subject and the recapitulation.
• 2. It is the second movement, however, which has lent the Quartet its nickname; it is a set of variations on the well known dactylic Rosamunde theme, retrieved from the entr’acte to his incidental music of the previous year. The theme is developed with characteristic twists of harmony and figuration in a movement that ends as gently as it had begun.
• 3. The minuet is inspired by the melody of another song by Schubert, Die Götter Griechenlands, D. 677. The opening figure of the Minuet again recalls the opening of Schubert’s setting of Schiller’s lament on the passing of the age of ancient Greece, a mood which the A major Trio lightens. The opening of the minuet melody recurs in inversion at the beginning of the trio
• 4. The minuet melody is later echoed in the opening of the finale. Marked Allegro moderato, it provides a wealth of invention, with its cheerful principal subject and a slightly sinister second subject that varies from the key of C sharp minor to E major, with a corresponding modulation in the recapitulation.

Question 4

Piece: string quartet by Schubert, 14.

Answer 4

String Quartet No.14 in d “Death and the Maiden”, D.810 (1824)

• It belongs to the same period as the Arpeggione Sonata, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression.
• Composed after the composer suffered through a serious illness and realized that he was dying, it is Schubert’s testament to death. The theme of death is palpable in all four movements of the quartet.
• After 1820, Schubert returned to the string quartet form, which he had last visited as a teenager. This, along with Quartettsatz and Rosamunda quartets, were a huge step forward from his initial attempts. In the later quartets, the part writing is much more advanced, and each instrument brings its own character and presence, for a more complex and integrated texture. Also, the later quartets are structurally much more integrated, with motifs, harmonies, and textures recurring in a way that ties the entire work together.
• The quartet throughout is characterized by sudden dramatic shifts from fortissimo to pianissimo, from the lyrical to the compelling and dramatic. A driving undercurrent of triplets is a recurring motif in all four movements. The quartet begins with a unison D, played fortissimo, and a triplet figure, that establishes the triplet motif. Three and a half measures of fortissimo break off into a sudden, pianissimo chorale, the first of the many violent shifts of mood that occur throughout.
• 1. The first movement is in sonata form. In the 14-measure introduction, Schubert establishes the elements that will carry through the entire movement. After the introduction, Schubert presents the first theme: a continuation of the chorale motif, but with the triplets motif rippling through the lower voices, in a restless, unremitting stream. The triplet motif is transmuted into a connecting theme of its own, leading to the second theme in F major. The second theme is repeated, with an accompaniment of sixteenth notes. The sixteenth note passage modulates through a range of keys, finally settling on A major, where it continues as an accompaniment to a restatement of the second theme in the second violin. The exposition ends with a transformation of the second theme, this time wrenched into a violent outburst in A minor. The development concentrates on the two forms of the second theme: the lilting, quiet version, and the violent inverted form. The section fluctuates between a fading relaxation and fortissimo. Toward the end of the development, Schubert reintroduces the triplet motif of the first theme, leading to the recapitulation. Here the opening themes return, with variants. The music moves to D major, for a relaxed recapitulation of the second theme, then returns to D minor. A chorale reminiscent of the introduction leads to the coda. But even in the chorale, the tension does not relax, with a sudden fortepiano interrupting the quiet. The opening theme returns, played at a rushed tempo, like a sudden resurgence of life, growing to a climax that suddenly breaks off and the triplet motif, played at the original slower tempo, dies away to the end of the movement.
• 2. The second movement is a theme and five variations, based on the theme from the Schubert Lied. The theme is like a death march in G minor, ending on a G major chord. Throughout the movement, Schubert does not deviate from the basic harmonic and sentence structure of the 24-measure theme. But each variation expresses a profoundly different emotion. In the first variation, a lilting violin descant floats above the theme, played in pulsing triplets in the second violin and viola that recall the triplets of the first movement. In the second variation, the cello carries the theme, with the first violin playing the pulsating role – this time in sixteenth notes. After two relaxed variations, the third variation returns to the Sturm und Drang character of the overall piece: a galloping fortissimo figure breaks off suddenly into piano; the violin plays a variant of the theme in a high register, while the inner voices continue the gallop. The fourth variation is again lyrical, with the viola carrying the melody under a long violin line in triplets. This is the only variation in a major key – G major. In the fifth variation, the second violin takes up the theme, while the first violin plays a sixteenth-note arpeggiated motif, with the cello playing the triplets in the bass. The variation grows from pianissimo to fortissimo, then again fades and slows in pace, finally returning to a restatement of the theme – this time in G major.
• 3. There is something demonic in this fast-paced scherzo, full of syncopations and, like the other movements, dramatic leaps from fortissimo to pianissimo. It is designed as a classical minuet: two strains in 3/4 time, repeated, in D minor, followed by a contrasting trio section in D major, at a slower tempo, and ending with a recapitulation of the opening strains. The trio section is the only real respite from the compelling pace of the whole quartet: a typically Schubertesque melody, with the first violin playing a dancing descant above the melody line in the lower voices. The scherzo is a short movement, serving as an interlude leading to the frenetic last movement.
• 4. The finale of the quartet is a tarantella in rondo-sonata form, in D minor. The tarantella is a breakneck Italian dance in 6/8 time, that, according to tradition, was a treatment for madness and convulsions brought on by the bite of a tarantula spider. The movement is built of sections. The first, main section recurs between each of the subsequent sections. The movement opens with the main section of the rondo in unison, with a theme based on a dotted figure. The theme is traditionally bowed in the reverse direction from the usual bowing of dotted passages. This has the effect of moving the accent onto the off-beat, giving the entire passage the character of a limping dance. The theme develops characteristically, with sudden lurches from loud to soft and running triplets, leading to the second section of the rondo: a broad, chorale-like theme. Cobbett identifies this theme as a quote from another song of Schubert’s, Der Erlkönig, about a child who dies at the hands of king of the forest. The terrified child turns to his father for protection, but his father does not see the spirit, and ignores the child’s pleas until the child is dead in his arms. “There is deep meaning in the appearance of this phrase,” writes Cobbett. The chorale motif continues, with a flowing triplet accompaniment in the first violin that recalls the fourth variation of the Andante movement. This leads to a restatement of the main theme. Here the triplet motif of the opening of the quartet also reappears, in disguised form. Then the chorale theme recurs, leading to the second statement of the main section. The third section of the rondo begins. This is a complex, involuted section with chromatic swirls of triplets and hemiolas that cause the listener to lose all sense of downbeat. This leads into a recapitulation of the second section, and then a return of the main section of the rondo. A crescendo leads to the Prestissimo coda of the movement and of the piece. The coda begins in D major, suggesting a triumphant end – a device common in classical and romantic quartets. But in this case, the coda suddenly returns to D minor, for a tumultuous and tragic conclusion.

Question 5

Piece: Mendelssohn string quartet, 2.

Answer 5

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No.2 in a, Op.13 (1827)

• Despite its official number, it is Mendelssohn’s first string quartet.
• Though Mendelssohn was only 18 when he wrote this quartet, he was already an experienced composer of chamber music.
• As a unifying motif, Mendelssohn included a quote from the song “Ist es wahr?” (‘Is it true?’, op. 9 no. 1), which he composed a few months earlier. Mendelssohn includes the title of the song in the score of the quartet, recalling the title Beethoven wrote on the last movement of his Op. 135 string quartet “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?). But, unlike the introspective, existential quality of Beethoven’s quartet, Mendelssohn’s work is richly romantic.
• 1. The three-note motif from “Ist es wahr?”, presented in an opening Adagio in the key of A Major, establishes the cyclic form of the quartet; the motif appears in all four of the movements, and concludes the quartet. After the Adagio introduction, the quartet breaks into a tumultuous Allegro Vivace in Sonata form in A minor. So the quartet, which is mostly in minor keys, and is primarily minor in character, opens and closes in a major key. The opening closely resembles Beethoven’s Op. 132 quartet: that quartet, also, has an opening adagio, then a first theme built of running sixteenth notes and a lyrical passage, which is close to an inversion of Mendelssohn’s theme.
• 2. The Adagio movement has a middle slow, fugal section which is modelled after the fugal middle section of the slow movement of Beethoven’s Op. 95.
• 3. Intermezzo
• 4. The final movement of Beethoven’s Op. 132 quartet is a prototype for Mendelssohn’s last movement: it begins with a recitative/cadenza interlude in the first violin, leading into a fast, melodic movement with a driving bass line in the cello which is a close copy of the cello part of Op. 132.

Question 6

How many string quartets did Mendelssohn write? Name all the numbered string quartets.

Answer 6

Felix Mendelssohn
- 6 numbered string quartets
- 16 fugues for string quartet
- an early unnumbered string quartet
- a group of 4 pieces for string quartet
(It is important to note their lack of development throughout his career.)

• String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12
• String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13

Op. 44, Nos.1-3

• String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44, No. 1 (1838)
• String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2 (1837)
• String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 44, No. 3 (1838)
• String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 (1847)

Question 7

What is notable about Schubert’s last string quartet?

Answer 7

Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887 (1826)

• It is most notable for its massive size. The piece is in four movements, and is about 45 minutes long:
• 1. Allegro molto moderato (G major, in 3/4 time)
• 2. Andante un poco moto (E minor, in common time)
• 3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace (B minor, in 3/4 time) – Trio. Allegretto (G major)
• 4. Allegro assai (G major, in 6/8 time)

Question 8

How many string quartets did Schumann write?

Answer 8

Schumann wrote 3 String Quartets.
Op. 41: 3 String Quartets in A minor, F, and A (1842)
- In 1842 Schumann composed the Three String Quartets Op. 41, the Piano Quintet Op. 44, and the Piano Quartet Op. 47, a veritable ‘Year of Chamber Music’. Influenced by the late quartets of Beethoven and the quartets of Haydn and Mozart, Schumann’s string quartets are filled with musical inventiveness, youthful exuberance, and intense poetic feeling.
- each follow the traditional 4-movement model. The first and the third place the scherzo before the slow movement.
- No.1 in a: The sonata form first movement includes much contrapuntal fugal writing (imitation). Mendelssohn-like scherzo with an alla breve intermezzo in C (in the place of a triple-meter trio). The slow movement begins in d minor but moves to F major for the primary material. The presto finale in sonata-allegro form returns to the tonic key (A Minor). There is a shift to A major and a largely chordal Moderato toward the end of the movement before returning to the tempo of the beginning of the movement. It ends in A major.