String Quartet No. 10 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, nicknamed the "Harp", was published in 1809 as Opus 74.

Naming

The nickname "Harp" refers to the characteristic pizzicato sections in the Allegro of the first movement, where two members of the quartet alternate notes in an arpeggio, reminiscent of the plucking of a harp. Like many nicknames for Beethoven's works, this is one the publisher came up with.

Formal analysis of movements

Movement I (Poco Adagio; Allegro)

This movement is in sonata form.

Intro

Exposition (mm. 25-77)

1st tonal area, E♭ (mm. 1-29)

Pizzicati lead transition to tonal area 2

2nd tonal area, B♭ (mm. 52-)

Closing (mm. 70-77)

In keeping with tradition, there is a repeat of this short exposition.

Development (mm. 78-139) Recapitulation (mm. 140-205)

Coda (mm. 206-262)This coda is huge, which is a typical Beethoven characteristic.

Movement II (Adagio ma non troppo)

Movement III (Presto)

This movement is in Scherzo form.

Scherzo (mm.1-76) C minor

Trio (mm. 77-169) C major

Scherzo (170-245)

Trio (246-338)

Scherzo (339-467)

Movement IV (Allegretto con Variazioni)

Back in E♭ major again.This is a theme and ornamental variations, and follows the typical form.

The coda begins at m. 142.

Discussion

The first movement, of about ten minutes duration, is one of the best examples of Beethoven's management of musical tension. The short Adagio introduction (24 bars long) is not tightly thematically integrated with the rest of the movement; it serves a similar function to the Introduzione of the first movement of Op 59 No 3. The main motifs of the Allegro are the lyrical melody appearing several bars from the beginning, and the pizzicato arpeggios played by two instruments accompanied by repeating quavers played by the other two. At first, these two themes appear thematically and rhythmically unrelated. It is only the last fifty bars that the listener discovers that Beethoven's true purpose is for them to be played simultaneously, beneath a schizophrenic violin part, to generate the climax of the movement.

See also

* String Quartets Nos. 10 - 11, Opus 74 "Harp" and 95 "Serioso" (Beethoven)

Sources for further reading

These sources contain information specifically about the Op. 74 quartet.

* Kerman, Joseph, "The Beethoven Quartets". New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1966, pp. 155-168 ISBN 0-393-00909-2
* Marliave, Joseph de., trans. Hilda Andrews. "Beethoven's Quartets" New York: Dover, 1961, pp. 146-173.
* Marston, Nicholas. "Analysing Variations: The Finale of Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 74." from "Music Analysis" 8, no.3 (October 1989): pp. 303-324.
* Radcliffe, Philip. "Beethoven's String Quartets" New York: E.P. Dutton, 1968, pp. 82-89.
* Shepherd, Arthur. "The String Quartets of Ludwig Van Beethoven." Cleveland: The Printing Press, 1935, pp. 37-39.
* Robert Winter and Robert Martin, eds. "The Beethoven Quartet Companion." Berkeley, CA: University of CA Press, 1994, pp. 196-203.

External links

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