What do you know about Beethoven String Quartet No. 4 Op. 18?!
Question: I'm supposed to do a little intro for the Beethoven String Quartet we are playing and I can't find much info on it. We are playing the Finale (4th mvt) of Op. 18 No. 4. Anyone know anything about it? I'd really appreciate some sources also (I wouldn't want to say anything that I haven't seen proof of as true). Thanks!
Answers: I'm supposed to do a little intro for the Beethoven String Quartet we are playing and I can't find much info on it. We are playing the Finale (4th mvt) of Op. 18 No. 4. Anyone know anything about it? I'd really appreciate some sources also (I wouldn't want to say anything that I haven't seen proof of as true). Thanks!
"Ludwig van Beethoven's opus 18, published in 1801 by T. Mollo et Comp in Vienna, consisted of his first six string quartets. They were composed between 1798 and 1800 to fulfill a commission for Prince Lobkowitz, who was the employer of Beethoven's friend, the violinist Karl Amenda. They are thought to demonstrate his total mastery of the classical string quartet as developed by Haydn and Mozart. The order of publication (numbering within the opus) does not correspond to the order of composition. Beethoven composed these quartets in the sequence 3, 1, 2, 5, 6, 4" (from Wikipedia).
And from me: as a technical point of view, the fourth movement of the Quartet is a rondo-sonata (a mixture of a rondo with a sonata). The articulations are in the following order: the main theme (wich is also the refrain-theme of the rondo) is the first melodic line (nervous and fast); the secondary theme it's written in A flat major and consist in a lyrical melody (long durations, an harmonic aproach and a good soustained musical frase); the first recapitulation of the main theme; the third theme (wich is in the center of the movement, in C major); the Recapitulation (in wich the main theme and the secondary theme are appearing in c minor - both of them); the final recapitulation of the first theme; the Coda (based on the fisrt theme). The end is in C major. The scheme it's: A B A C A B A Coda, where A is the first theme, B is the secondary theme, C is the third theme.
I hope you understand my "english". I'm very sorry for the mistakes I've made... if they are :)