HARMONY, VOICE LEADING, AND MOTIVE IN
BEETHOVEN'S LAST QUARTET
by
JASON GRANT BRITTON
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the School of Music and Dance
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
June 2008
11
University of Oregon Graduate School
Confirmation of Approval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by:
Jason Britton
Title:
"Harmony, Voice Leading, and Motive in Beethoven's Last Quartet"
This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment ofthe
requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Music by:
Jack Boss, Chairperson, Music
Steven Larson, Member, Music
Marian Smith, Member, Music
John McCole, Outside Member, History
and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies/Dean of the
Graduate School for the University of Oregon.
June 14, 2008
Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of
Oregon Libraries.
© 2008 Jason Grant Britton
111
An Abstract of the Dissertation of
Jason Grant Britton for the degree of
in the School of Music and Dance to be taken
IV
Doctor ofPhilosophy
June 2008
Title: HARMONY, VOICE LEADING, AND MOTIVE IN BEETHOVEN'S LAST
QUARTET
Approved: _
Dr. Jack Boss
Beethoven's last five string quartets have engaged the imagination and curiosity
of performers, listeners, and critics at a level that has rarely been touched in the world of
chamber music, or beyond. Throughout the late quartets' history, musicians have
scrutinized the works in search of a logic that might demystify their stylistic and
structural peculiarities. This present study continues this pursuit as it examines
analytically (through Schenkerian techniques) the harmonic, contrapuntal, and motivic
procedures in Beethoven's last complete composition, the String Quartet in F major,
op. 135.
Most of the published analytical commentaries on the F major quartet approach
the work more or less exclusively from a motivic standpoint. Arnold Schoenberg
(1941), Rudolf Reti (1951), Deryck Cooke (1963), and Christopher Reynolds (1988)
have all praised op. 135 for its highly unified motivic structure; what their studies
vshow-at least in a general sense-is that there is undoubtedly a motivic strategy that
ties much of op. 135 together. But what are we to do when the details of one motivic
reading opposes another? Or what if a particular reading contradicts the way we
understand a passage aurally (which happens often when the proposed reading is
incongruous with the music's harmonic-contrapuntal structure)? What criteria should
we use to evaluate a motivic analysis? Clearly, we need a set of principles and standards
that will help answer these questions and advance us beyond mere intuition.
The position taken in this study echoes John Rothgeb's argument that "proposed
thematic relationships must bear scrutiny in the light of the Schenkerian theory of
structural strata," and that incompatible readings should be "dismissed as spurious"
(1983, 42). In the pages that follow, a Schenkerian approach is adopted to help assess
existing motivic readings of op. 135 within the requisite contexts of harmony and voice
leading. The method is also used to help generate a rational, hearable analysis that
reveals motivic relationships that reside at deeper, hidden levels of structure.
CURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: Jason Grant Britton
PLACE OF BIRTH: Spokane, Washington
DATE OF BIRTH: January 21, 1972
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Arizona
Whitworth College
DEGREES AWARDED:
Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory, 2008, University of Oregon
Master of Arts in Music Theory, 2002, University of Oregon
Bachelor of Music, 1994, University of Arizona
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Schenkerian Analysis
Phrase Rhythm
Musical Humor
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Visiting Instructor, Department of Music, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa,
2007-Present
Graduate Teaching Fellow, School of Music, University of Oregon, Eugene,
1998-2006
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Music, Whitworth College, Spokane,
Washington, 1995-1996
VI
VB
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:
University of Oregon: University Outstanding Scholar in Music, 2008.
University of Oregon School of Music: Outstanding Scholar in Music Theory,
2008.
Texas Society for Music Theory: Colvin Award for Best Student Paper, What's
in a Name? The Scherzo in Haydn's Opus 33 Quartets, 29th Annual
Meeting, 2007.
University of Oregon Graduate School: Graduate School Research Award,
Lurking in the Background: Functional Tonality in Debussy, Winter 2006.
University of Oregon Graduate School: Master's Fellowship for Excellence in
Music Research and Scholarly Activity, A New Name for a New Game?:
The Nature ofthe Scherzo in Haydn's Opus 33 Quartets, 2001.
University of Oregon School of Music: Achievement Award in Recognition of
Outstanding Graduate Scholarship in Music Theory, 2000.
Vlll
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to several individuals who have
provided insights, ideas, and inspiration as I completed this study. First among them is
my adviser, Jack Boss, who deserves special thanks for the tremendous amount of time,
support, and good advice he has generously given me throughout this process. I am
also very grateful to Professors Steve Larson, Marian Smith, and John McCole, for
serving tirelessly on my committee and for helping me make this dissertation much
better than it otherwise would have been. Thanks also goes to Sean Malone for
designing and sharing the handsome music font used throughout this document, and to
Professor Emeritus Robert Hurwitz, whose superb teaching, musicianship, and wit
continues to inspire and influence me daily. Finally I would like to thank my parents
for their enduring support (even though they are still not quite sure what it is that I do).
,..-------------------_._---_.._.._--- -
IX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION 1
Survey of the Literature 3
II. A BASIC SET OF TONES IN "DIVERSE MIRROR FORMS":
OPUS 135, FOURTH MOVEMENT 28
The Introduction (mm. 1-12) 32
The Exposition (mm. 13-80) 36
The Development Section (mm. 81-160) 48
The Recapitulation (mm. 161-243) 53
The Coda (mm. 244-277) 57
III. BEGINNING "WITH A FORETASTE OF ITS CONCLUSION":
OPUS 135, FIRST MOVEMENT 60
The Exposition (mm. 1-62) 61
The Development Section (mm. 62-100) 72
The Recapitulation (mm. 101-163) 75
The Coda (mm. 163-193) 77
IV. EXTRAMOTIVIC ASSOCIATIONS, INCLUDING A "FOREBODING
INTRUSION" OF B: OPUS 135, SECOND MOVEMENT 79
The Scherzo (mm. 1-66) 84
The Trio (mm. 67-200) 88
Chapter Page
V. A MICROCOSM OF THE WHOLE:
OPUS 135, THIRD MOVEMENT 92
The Theme (mm. 1-12) 94
Variation I (mm. 13-22) 98
Variation II (mm. 23-32) 99
Variation III (mm. 33-42) 101
Variation IV (mm. 43-52) 101
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................ 103
APPENDICES
A. VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, IV............................................... 111
B. VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, I 134
C. VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, II 156
D. VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, III 177
BIBLIOGRAPHY 184
x
Xl
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example Page
1.1. Op. 135, iv, Epigraph 3
1.2. Retrograde Inversion of"Es muss sein!" with Passing Tones 3
1.3. Reti's Basic Motives Embedded in the Opening Gesture of
Op. 135, i, mm. 1-2 4
1.4. Reti's Motivic Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme,
mm. 10-14 5
1.5. Cooke's Motivic Sources of the Late Quartets 7
1.6. Comparison of Cooke's and Reti's Motivic Readings of
Op. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme....................................................... 8
1.7. A Schenkerian Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme,
mm. 10-14 8
1.8. Cooke's Motivic Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme
(embellished), mm. 109-111 9
1.9. Reynolds's "Es muss sein!" Motives in Op. 135 13
1.10. Comparison of Reynolds's and Reti's Motivic Readings of
Op. 135, i, Opening Gesture 14
1.11. Op. 135, i, mm. 109-113 16
1.12. Reynolds's Revoicing of Op. 135, i, mm. 109-113 17
1.13. Cacioppo's Segmentation ofOp. 135, i, mm. 1-2 19
1.14. The "Unresolved" [7] Fourth Scale Degree of Beethoven's
"Es muss sein!" Motive 19
2.1. Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Canon, WoO 196 29
2.2. Duple Meter Reinterpretation of Op. 135, iv, mm. 1-5 34
2.3. Shifted Metrical Accents in Op. 135, iv, mm. 5-11 35
2.4. Voice-leading Structure of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Motive 37
Example
XlI
Page
2.5. After Beethoven's Sketch for Op. 135, iv, mm. 17-24 43
2.6. "Stripped-down" Foreground Sketch ofOp. 135, iv, mm. 88-100 49
2.7. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp, 135, iv, mm. 83-102 50
2.8. Breaking Down of the "Es muss sein!" Motive in Op. 135, iv,
mm. 100-109 50
2.9. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp, 135, iv, mm. 109-160 52
2.1 O. Redesigned "Main Theme" of the Recapitulation 54
2.11. Main Theme's "Head" and "Tail" Combined Contrapuntally
in Op. 135, iv, mm. 178-187 55
3.1. Reti's Comparison ofOp. 135's opening Gesture and
the "Es muss sein!" Motto 61
3.2. Reynolds's Comparison ofOp. 135's opening Gesture and
the "Es muss sein!" Motto 61
3.3. Recomposition ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Subject 69
3.4. Reynolds's Motives a, b, and x in Op, 135, i, mm. 89-90 74
3.5. Reynolds's Analysis after Revoicing Op. 135, i, mm. 109-113 76
4.1. Reti's Comparison between the Quartet's Opening Gesture
and the Scherzo (bass) 80
4.2. Cooke's Source for the Scherzo Theme ofOp. 135, ii 81
4.3. Schenker's Voice-leading Sketch ofOp. 135, ii, mm. 1-32 85
4.4. Op. 135, ii, mm. 1-8 86
4.5. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp. 135, ii, Trio, mm. 67-200 89
5.1. Cooke's Motivic Source for Two Thematic Segments in Op. 135 92
Xlll
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1 Two Distinct Voice-leading Strands within Beethoven's
"Es muss sein!" Motive 20
2.1. Similar "Unfolded" Thirds in Beethoven's Motive Forms 39
2.2. Comparison between Beethoven's Original Phrase and its
Canonic Version 44
2.3. Double-period Structure of Beethoven's Subordinate Theme,
mm. 53-68 48
3.1. Relation between Op. 135, i, Main Theme (mm. 5-6) and
"Es muss sein!" 65
3.2. Descending Thirds ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Subject (mm. 10-14)
and "Es muss sein!" 68
4.1. Invertible Counterpoint in Op. 135, ii, A sections of the Scherzo ........ 87
5.1. "Falling Fifths" in the "Continuation" Segment of Op. 135, iii,
Theme, mm. 7-10 96
5.2. "Falling Fifths" in the "Continuation" Segment of Op. 135, iii,
Variation I ,mm. 17-20 98
5.3. Invertible Counterpoint in Op. 135, iii, Variation I, mm. 20-22 99
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Beethoven's late string quartets are so challenging technically, intellectually, and
emotionally that they tend to leave listeners somewhat bewildered. What is astonishing
is that, in many ways, this is as true now as it was in the composer's own time. Initial
reviews of Beethoven's last five quartets show that while some critics celebrated their
transcendental qualities, many others found the works eccentric and incomprehensible.
And even those who did champion the late quartets struggled earnestly in their efforts to
come to grips with them. l The most troublesome technical features of the quartets
seemed to be their expanded dimensions, inventive formal schemes, polyphonic density,
extreme contrasts (of all sorts), and their unusual chromaticism and harmonic
progressions. Although we might wrestle less with their lengths and forms today,
Beethoven's late quartets still confront us with their wild contrasts and striking tonal
juxtapositions. Indeed, throughout the late quartets' history, musicians and writers have
scrutinized the works in search of a logic that might explain their stylistie and structural
peculiarities. This present study continues this pursuit as it examines analytically
(through Schenkerian techniques) the idiosyncrasies of Beethoven's harmonic,
contrapuntal, and motivic procedures in his last string quartet, op. 135 in F major
(1826).
ISee Christina Bashford, "The Late Beethoven Quartets and the London Press, 1836-ca. 1850,"
The Musical Quarterly 84/1 (2000): 84-123.
------------_._-
2
Although a large body of literature on Beethoven's late quartets has developed
over the years, surprisingly little of it is analytical in nature. In an exceptional study of
the three late quartets Beethoven dedicated to Prince Galitzin (opp. 127, 132, and 130),
Daniel Chua has noted that when it comes to the late quartets in general, "analysts have
exhibited a strange reticence" due perhaps to "a sense of awe in the face of these
difficult works, clothed by history in such an aura of spirituality that to analyse them
would be almost sacrilegious.,,2 I suspect that it is precisely the intense difficulty of
Beethoven's last quartets that is, more than anything else, the source of modem analysts'
avoidance of these works. Among the writings of those who have dared to tackle the
late quartets, Chua observes a common deficiency: "the occasional annotations given by
various commentators," he says, "although full of sporadic insights, are not designed to
tackle a whole quartet.,,3 Due to their wide scope, the many distinguished surveys of
Beethoven's entire string quartet oeuvre are inevitably found wanting when it comes to
sorting out all the intricate and wondrous details of a single quartet. Once again, the fact
that there are so few comprehensive analytical investigations dedicated to just one or
two quartets--especially the late ones-is surely a testament to the challenges of such
an undertaking. This present study of op. 135 operates nevertheless under the
conviction that a close reading of the entire quartet not only helps us appreciate the
work's particular allure, but also helps us avoid stereotyping it.
2Daniel K. L. Chua, The "Galitzin" Quartets ofBeethoven: Opp. 127, 132, 130 (Princeton,
Princeton University Press, 1995), 5.
3Ibid.
Es muss sein!
3
Survey of the Literature
Out of the few analytical efforts aimed at finding coherence in Beethoven's F
major quartet, op. 135, nearly all are directed at the composer's motivic technique. This
is not surprising, given the curious motivic epigraph titled "Der schwer gefasste
Entschluss" ("The Difficult Decision") that Beethoven attached to the quartet's final
movement (see Example 1.1). In 1941, Arnold Schoenberg cited the finale of op. 135 in
Example 1.1. Gp. 135, iv, Epigraph.
DER SCHWER GEFASSTE ENTSCHLUSS.
~i Allegro~~~h@~ ~~ Ef:f ~~-~S§J=ij+-~
Muss es scin? Es muss sem!
his essay "Composition with Twelve Tones" as an example of earlier music that utilizes
a basic set of tones in "diverse mirror forms.,,4 Schoenberg noticed that not only are
Beethoven's "Muss es sein?" ("Must it be?") and "Es muss sein!" ("It must be!")
motives related by inversion, but also that the second phrase of the Allegro theme (meas.
17 ff.) comes about from the retrograde inversion ofthe "Es muss sein!" motive being
filled in with passing tones (see Example 1.2). Schoenberg does not explore
Beethoven's motivic development any further in the movement, however, since his
Example 1.2. Retrograde Inversion of"Es muss sein!" with Passing Tones (unstemmed).
4Arnold Schoenberg, "Composition with Twelve Tones, I (1941 )," in Style and Idea: Selected
Writings ofArnold Schoenberg, trans. Leo Black, ed. Leonard Stein (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975;
reprint, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984),220 (page references are to reprint edition).
-----------------------------_..._--
4
purpose for citing op. 135 is only to establish historical roots for his own methods of
transforming a twelve-tone series.
The earliest attempt to understand Beethoven's entire F major quartet in terms of
motivic development comes in Rudolf Reti's The Thematic Process in Music (1951).
Here, Reti claims that the whole structure of op. 135 evolves from just one or two short
motivic particles. He brings to mind Schoenberg's Grundgestalt when he refers to the
first movement's opening gesture as "the basic motivic brick from which the quartet's
architecture is developed."s Reti identifies two basic motives overlapped in this opening
gesture; he further designates the last three notes of the main motive (labeled "I") as
particle "a" since it occasionally appears on its own (see Example 1.3).
Example 1.3. Reti's Basic Motives Embedded in the Opening Gesture ofOp. 135, i, mm. 1_2.6
As Reti works his way through the various themes of the quartet, he assures us
that "once we pierce the surface, these shapes which seem to bear no resemblance to
each other reveal themselves in substance as fully identical."? Reti's approach,
however, has attracted serious criticism over the years. David Epstein characterizes
Reti's analytic technique as "largely intuitive" with "an almost total absence of
5Rudolf Reti, The Thematic Process in Music (New York: Macmillan, 1951),209.
6See Reti, 211 (Ex. 331, mm. 1-2).
7Ibid., 210.
methodological proof.,,8 Similar objections come from Walter Frisch, who considers
most of the analyses contained in Thematic Process to be "disappointingly shallow.,,9
Frisch believes that Reti, in an attempt to reduce all a work's themes down to a
generating "motivic kernel," singles out pitches "with little regard for rhythmic or
harmonic context; he simply relegates to small print any notes that do not fit the shape
h ·· ,,10e IS trymg to construe.
From a Schenkerian standpoint, it does appear at times that Reti's analyses
highlight certain decorative pitches while suppressing the structural notes they
embellish. Consider, for example, his reading of measures 10-14 of the F major
quartet's first movement, reproduced in Example 1.4. Here, Reti finds his
Example 1.4. Reti's Motivic Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme, mm. 10-14. 11
1
r---------.-A--.-------~_.,
I J I
~ ~ I I I~:L
Motive I by separating the cadential note, F, from the previous phrase (rom. 5-10) and
linking it to the C, D, and Bb of the ensuing quarter-note theme. Although Beethoven's
quarter-note subject may be somewhat ambiguous harmonically (due to its
8David Epstein, Beyond Orpheus: Studies in Musical Structure (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1979), 10.
9Walter Frisch, Brahms and the Principle ofDeveloping Variation (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1984),22.
IOIbid.,23,
11See Reti, 211 (Ex. 329). In this example, I restore the theme's concluding pitch (A), which Reti
had removed.
5
6unaccompanied presentation in octaves), its final note, the cadential A, clearly possesses
greater tonal stability than the B~ that precedes (and resolves to) it. Because of this, a
Schenkerian reading of the theme would assign the final A to a higher structural rank
than the B~ that is prioritized Reti's analysis. 12 For some listeners, the underlying tonal
hierarchy also makes it difficult to experience Reti's motivic pitches (F-C-D-B~) on a
level separate from the remaining pitches in the passage. Moreover, appending the
concluding F from the previous phrase to the beginning of the new quarter-note theme is
questionable, not only from a Schenkerian perspective, but also from a practical aural
one because it proposes a grouping that is not easily grasped. 13 While it certainly
appears that there is a motivic process involved in Beethoven's op. 135, Reti's approach
focuses so narrowly on locating motivic relationships and intervallic parallels that it
becomes blind to the work's harmonic-contrapuntal structure.
A decade later, Deryck Cooke extends Reti's argument when he proposes that all
five of Beethoven's late quartets form "a self-contained unity, a single continuous act of
creation, in which Beethoven persistently developed certain implications of two basic
pitch-patterns.,,14 While Cooke acknowledges that discovering these pitch-skeletons in
the late quartets does not amount to a "genuine analysis" of the works, he argues that it
l2For a Schenkerian reading of the first movement's quarter-note theme, see Appendix B,
measures 10-14. See also the discussion pertaining to Examples J.6 and 1.7 below.
13In Chapter III, I discuss Jonathan Kramer's interpretation of the cadential arrival on Fin
measure 10 as representing the "final" cadence of the movement in terms of its gestural strength.
Kramer's analysis reflects the fact that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to perceive a thematic unit
that groups the terminative F on the downbeat of measure 10 with any of the notes that follow.
14Deryck Cooke, "The Unity of Beethoven's Late Quartets," The Music Review 24 (1963): 32.
7does provide a "schematic representation of ... the thematic unity of the group.,,15 The
two pitch patterns he identifies are the "bright" major motto-theme (A) and "dark"
minor motto-theme (B) summarized below in Example 1.5. Cooke also divides his
lengthy Motive A into two overlapping segments x and y, of which y figures more
prominently in the late quartets, and resembles op. 135's "Es muss sein!" theme (in
retrograde).
Example 1.5. Cooke's Motivic Sources of the Late Quartets.
x
y
Example 1.6 compares Cooke's reading ofop. 135's first-movement quarter-note
theme with Reti's analysis of the same passage (cited earlier in Example 1.4).
Remarkably, none of the pitches that correspond to Cooke's Motive y (D-G-E-A) are
members ofReti's Motive I (F-C-D-Bb); the two readings are completely at odds.
Although Cooke's motive is highlighted metrically and includes the goal tone, A, some
aspects of his analysis also conflict with a Schenkerian view of the voice-leading
structure. In Example 1.7, I offer a voice-leading sketch that proposes the subject's
initial C and penultimate Bb (two notes suppressed by Cooke) are members ofa
structural descending third-progression, C-Bb--A. 16 From this perspective, C, Bb, and A
15Ibid.
16See also the graph in Appendix B, mm. lO~14, and the accompanying discussion of this theme
in Chapter III, pp. 67-69).
Example 1.6. Comparison of Cooke's and Reti's Motivic Readings ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme.
a. Cooke'sMotivicReadingofOp.135,i,mm.IO-14. 17
b. Reti's Motivic Reading ofOp. 135, i, mm. 10-14.
I
r-_--------.-/'o-..----------....
¥P'-
Example 1.7. A Schenkerian Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme, mm. 10-14.
8
b
a
-- (4 3)
-
-
------
--- ~,"~II I' - 1 l-
V
,- 6 ,-
"
~'
--~ r
I ii v' I
-~ (4 3)
"
,---------- I
-
f--
v .- I 1
,- 6 5·--6
""
c
oJ
: --I---
I -~] l
17See Cooke, 44 (Ex. 53a).
ii v'
9form the structural skeleton of the theme and may be recognized both conceptually and
aurally as belonging to the same structural level.
From a Schenkerian standpoint, Cooke also contradicts his own analysis when he
suggests later that the ornamented version of the quarter-note theme takes on the form of
Motive B, and noty (see Example 1.8). While Cooke presents only half of the
embellished subject here, it is enough for us see that Beethoven's original and decorated
Example 1.8. Cooke's Motivic Reading ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Theme (embellished),
mm. 109-111.18
settings of the theme are connected tonally, whereas Cooke's motivic analyses of these
themes are not. The only corresponding pitch highlighted in both of Cooke's readings is
D4 (compare Examples 1.6a & 1.8).19 The G, which was motivically vital in his first
reading, is now merely decorative. And from a Schenkerian stance, Cooke's asterisked
C#, B~, and A given in Example 1.8 have purely ornamental roles in the tonal hierarchy
of the passage.20 Such details suggest that Cooke's motivic approach to op. 135 is no
more driven by the quartet's tonal structure than Reti' s.
The contradictory readings ofReti and Cooke raise some important questions:
What are we to do when motivic analyses oppose each other? What criteria should we
18See Cooke, 44 (Ex. 53b).
19presumab1y, had Cooke continued his motivk analysis to include the entire ornamented subject
(i.e., through m. 113), E4 would be another pitch the two readings would have in common.
20See the voice-leading sketch in Appendix B, mm. 109--113, level a.
10
use to evaluate a motivic analysis? Can there be more than one acceptable reading?
Clearly we need a set of principles and standards that will help us answer these
questions and advance us beyond mere intuition (though intuition is not without its
value). It is probably evident from my commentary on Cooke's and Reti's analyses
above, that I subscribe to the view that a well-formed motivic analysis is one that is
compatible with a Schenkerian understanding ofthe work's harmonic-contrapuntal
structure. This echoes John Rothgeb's argument that "proposed thematic relationships
must bear scrutiny in light of the Schenkerian theory of structural strata.,,2l One
advantage of the Schenkerian approach, Rothgeb explains, is that it is "founded on fixed
and indisputable principles of relation," so that when we try to associate a given theme
to an underlying motivic shape, the process is "informed by principles that are
independent of any specific configuration one may believe 'ought' to be present.,,22 In
other words, the Schenkerian graph helps keep us honest because it assists us in
interpreting diminutions consistently.
The second, perhaps more important, advantage of the Schenkerian method is
that "it promotes the hearing and identification of relationships wherever and however
they may be manifested.,,23 Since it highlights only those motivic and thematic
relationships that are audible or potentially hearable, a Schenkerian approach is the one
21John Rothgeb, "Thematic Content: A Schenkerian View," in Aspects ofSchenkerian Theory,
ed. David Beach (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1983),42.
22Ibid .,41.
23Ibid .,42.
11
that most strongly supports our intuition; it reflects more what the ear hears and what the
mind understands than what the eye sees.
Before moving forward, however, it should be noted that the Schenkerian "test"
for motivic associations might not be quite as perfect as Rothgeb and others have
suggested. Richard Cohn has raised the issue of an apparent inconsistency between
Schenkerian theory and practice when it comes to identifying motivic relations.
According to Schenkerian doctrine, the "recognition of motivic relations results from
analysis, but does not influence the analytical process.,,24 This tenet, however, is
frequently broken in actual analyses. Cohn offers several examples by very well
respected Schenkerians (including Schenker himself) in which motivic considerations
appear to influence structural decisions. Here, motivic relations become more than mere
byproducts of the analytic process, as they "create their own independent source of
unity, interacting with the Ursatz hierarchy yet maintaining ultimate autonomy with
. ,,25
respect to It.
Cohn's examples illustrate three basic situations. In the first type, the analyst is
faced with two equally well-formed, equally plausible interpretations, but decides to
give preference to the reading that demonstrates richer motivic connections. In the
second situation, the analyst is still faced with two well-formed interpretations of a
passage, however one interpretation is now more plausible (because it is simpler or
otherwise more conventionally "Schenkerian"), while the other option is motivically
24Richard Cohn, "The Autonomy of Motives in Schenkerian Accounts of Tonal Music," Music
Theory Spectrum 14/2 (1992), 155.
25Ibid., 169.
12
richer. In this case, the analyst still opts for the motivically interesting interpretation,
even though it is strictly less plausible. Finally, the third situation is just the same as the
second, except that here the analyst tries to escape choosing between the competing
interpretations by combining elements from both readings into one (ill-formed)
Schenkerian graph.
Obviously, situation #3 is problematic because the analyst produces a graph that
contradicts itself. But either of its competing interpretations-be it the more
conventional one or the motivically rich one-could be used as a basis for a motivic
analysis, because, as Cohn acknowledges, each option is "well-formed." In other words,
each reading is plausible, though one might be more plausible (i.e., more conventionally
"Schenkerian") than the other. As far as this study is concerned, a real problem would
arise only if an analyst's motivic interpretation of a passage were implausible from a
Schenkerian perspective, and thus not compatible with the deeper harmonic-
contrapuntal structure. As long as we can reasonably reconcile a proposed motivic
analysis with a Schenkerian reading of the work, then we have to consider that motivic
analysis to be at least viable.
In more recent years, Christopher Reynolds has taken a rather different motivic
approach to Beethoven's last quartet. Unlike Reti and Cooke, he considers an intricate
"complex" of motives at work in op. 135, and his article, "The Representational Impulse
in Late Beethoven, II: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135" (1988), likens the quartet's
techniques of motivic transformation to those found in Beethoven's song cycle An die
ferne Geliebte, composed ten years earlier. According to Reynolds, the quartet, like An
13
die ferne Geliebte, is a "Beethovenian Kreis: both cycle and circle," with one of its key
unifying elements being that it "begins with a foretaste of its conclusion" as "motives
presented at the outset of the first movement return transformed in the last.,,26
Reynolds, like his predecessors, identifies his main motives with the "Es muss
sein!" theme of the quartet's finale. For him, though, the motto theme creates two
equally important lines: "Motive b" is the familiar ascending third followed by a
descending fourth, while "Motive x" is astepwise descending third (marked with
asterisks in Example 1.9). The unique feature of Reynolds's reading is that his Motive x
is a middleground pattern that resides beneath the surface of the paired statements of
Example 1.9. Reynolds's "Es muss sein!" Motives in Op. 135.27
b b
~ 1 I 1~ J==ttt £ ~ rt==II•• :==--tf.
,-;-1x,----------------------'I
Motive b.28 As for the quartet "beginning with a foretaste of its conclusion," Reynolds
shows how transformations of Motives b and x first appear (along with another motive,
"a") in the first movement's opening gesture (see Example 1. lOa). Example 1.10 also
illustrates just how differently Reynolds and Reti segment this opening gesture.29
26Christopher Reynolds, "The Representational Impulse in Late Beethoven, II: String Quartet in
F Major, Op. 135," Acta Musicologica 60/2 (1988): 180.
27SeeReynolds, 180 (Ex. 1).
28My Schenkerian analysis of this movement (see Chapter II) will reveal that this middleground
motive has even broader structural implications than Reynolds considers.
29Although Reynolds's Motive b is not one that Reti labels, Reti (p. 216) does acknowledge the
pitch correspondence (G-Bl.-F) between the quartet's opening gesture and the concluding three-note
segment of the "Es muss sein!" motive.
14
Example 1.10. Comparison of Reynolds's and R6ti's Motivic Readings ofOp. 135, i, Opening Gesture.
a. Reynolds's Transformations of Motives b and x in Op. 135, i, mm. 1_2.30
b
la
~IBIII~
1* * *1
X
b. R6ti's Basic Motives Embedded in the Opening Gesture ofOp. 135, i, mm. 1-2.
In contrast to Reti and Cooke, Reynolds expands his analytic view beyond a few
primary motivic shapes to incorporate a network of supporting motives as well. This
seems fitling if one is intent on providing a motivic account of the entire quartet. The
potential difficulty, however, is that Reynolds's central supporting motives (named "y"
and "z") are so fluid and abstract in nature, that many readers may become wary. For
example, Reynolds defines his Motive y alternately as (1) an ascending perfect eleventh
from C to F, or (2) as an ascending fifth from F to C over a dominant C pedal.
Similarly, Reynolds's Motive z may be either (1) a descending perfect eleventh from F
to C, or (2) a descending octave from F to F. These alternate definitions certainly do
seem disparate, yet Reynolds maintains: "It would be wrong to insist on either one
reading of these motives or the other, because Beethoven exploits them in all of their
30See Reynolds, 181 (Ex.2a). It is worth noting that here, the descending third ofReynolds's
Motive x prolongs the dominant harmony rather than the tonic (as shown in Example 1.9).
15
dimensions, from individual segments in the first movement to a full fledged reunion of
x, y, and z in the finale.,,3! Reynolds does acknowledge that, at times, the various
transformations ofy and z are "so different that there is little to compare," and that only
by understanding x, y, and z as a motivic complex, and then relating the larger
complexes to each other, do the similarities emerge.32 It appears, then, that Reynolds
justifies his abstract motives y and z, which some critics would view as mere byproducts
of tonality, largely because those motives are involved in a kind of developmental
musical process.
One of Reynolds's most significant contributions involves his interpretation of
the "Muss es sein?" and "Es muss sein!" texts. Previously, authors have looked outside
the music to the events of Beethoven's final year for clues as to what the unidentified
"it" (Es) might symbolize. As Reynolds recounts, speculations have ranged from "the
imminence of Beethoven's own death, to the unavoidability ofrelinquishing custody of
his suicidal nephew, to the mundane need to pay subscription dues, based on the comical
'Es muss sein' canon," which Beethoven composed earlier that year.33 Reynolds, on the
other hand, offers a new way to interpret the epigraph based on the music rather than the
composer's biography. By reading "Es" literally as the German note name for B,
Reynolds construes the epigraph as Beethoven's own acknowledgment of the
compositional challenge he set for himself: the integration ofB into an F major work.
31Reynolds,183.
32Ibid., 185.
33Ibid ., 189. I discuss Beethoven's joke canon in Chapter II (pp. 28-30).
----------------- ------
16
The quartet, as a consequence, becomes a drama in which the status of H undergoes a
transformation from movement to movement. The note first appears in the Allegretto as
an intrusion that disrupts both the rhythmic flow and the sense of tonic. By the end of
the finale, however, Beethoven has integrated H into the main motives to such an extent
that Reynolds dubs the movement a "solution and synthesis.,,34 Therefore in the finale
Beethoven answers musically the question "Muss es sein?" For him, "Es," or H, "muss
sein!" Reynolds stresses, however, that his musical reading of the epigraph does not
contradict biographical interpretations. Instead he proposes that Beethoven used the
changing role ofH precisely to express his views of biographical events. This,
Reynolds believes, is Beethoven's "representational impulse."
While Reynolds's approach is certainly more methodical than the analytical
practices of Reti and Cooke, he also proposes motivic connections that seem to run
contrary to the music's tonal hierarchy. Consider Reynolds's analysis of what appears
to be an embellished version of the quarter-note subject in the quartet's first movement
(see Example 1.11):35
Example 1.11. Gp. 135, i, mm. 109-113.
34Ibid ., 193.
35Reti's and Cooke's analyses ofthe original quarter-note version of the theme are cited above in
Examples 1.4 and 1.6. Cooke's analysis of the first half of this embellished version is given in Example
1.8.
17
By revoicing some of the octaves in this theme, Reynolds is able to locate his primary
motives a, b, and x (see Example 1.12). A comparison of Reynolds's revoiced
Example 1.12. Reynolds's Revoicing ofOp. 135, i, mm. 109-113.36
b b
'~~i~
1* * *11* * *J
x x
analysis to the original quarter-note version of the theme (given in Examples 1.6 and
1.7) reveals that some of the pitches used to bring about his motivic shapes have
embellishing functions in terms of the harmony and voice leading. Specifically, the m
and C~ that begin each of Reynolds's motivic statements are, from a Schenkerian
standpoint, merely surface embellishments of the more tonally stable pitches (C and D)
that they precede. As a consequence, both segments that Reynolds identifies as Motive
x begin with pitches belonging to a lower structural rank than do the ensuing pitches of
his proposed motive.
While the motivic approach to Beethoven's late quartets has gathered the most
momentum over the years, Daniel Chua has offered these now familiar caveats about
this analytic method:
First, the motivic process must transcend a myopic, bar-to-bar continuity and rise
to a higher order of unity which ranges from the balance of periodic structures to
the overall tonal motion....
Secondly, with the late quartets, motifs must be considered not only in
their harmonic and tonal context but also within a contrapuntal framework; for in
36See Reynolds, 181 (Ex. 2f). Except for being an octave higher, Reynolds's revoiced theme is
identical to Beethoven's second violin part in measures 109-213.
18
these late works there is an obsession with counterpoint in the structuring of the
form. 37
In short, Chua is saying that to speak of coherence in Beethoven's late quartets requires
that we account not only for the motivic transformations, but also for the harmonic and
contrapuntal settings within which the motives operate. While the proposal is not new,
the way he puts it seems to suggest another layer to the argument, which is that a purely
motivic analysis, even one we might find completely satisfying at all times, could never
fully explain the unusual sound world Beethoven constructed in his last quartets. The
striking sounds of Beethoven's late compositions arise predominantly from their
intervallic content, which is expressed in chords, counterpoint, and melody-all
dimensions that are addressed most clearly though Schenker's method.
Beethoven's extraordinary treatment of voice leading and dissonance in op. 135
has caused at least one writer to perceive whole-tone and quartal sonorities in the work.
In his article, "Color and Dissonance in Late Beethoven: the Quartet Op. 135," Curt
Cacioppo uses pitch-class set analytic techniques to bolster a claim that the trichord Bb,
F, G (025) from the quartet's opening gesture serves as a "basic unit" that "repeats,
varies and develops in several ways.,,38 Upon examination, however, I find that
Cacioppo's segmentation of the music does not correspond to aurally meaningful
musical groups. Consider, for instance, his segmentation of the quartet's opening theme
shown in Example 1.13:
37Chua, "Galitzin" Quartets, 12--13.
38Curt Cacioppo, Color and Dissonance in Late Beethoven: The Quartet Gp. 135," Journal of
Musicological Research 6/3 (1986): 210.
19
Example 1.13. Cacioppo's Segmentation ofOp. 135, i, mm. 1_2.39
To select Bb, F, and G, and then ignore the final E seems to deny the natural grouping of
the notes. Not only is the final E the tonal goal of the gesture, its downbeat position is
also a metrical goal. To make an analogy, Cacioppo's omission of the final E is like
taking Shakespeare's famous phrase and trimming it like so: "To be, or not to."
In general, Cacioppo's segmentation of op. 135 disagrees with a Schenkerian
understanding of the quartet's tonal structure. For instance, he claims that the "Es muss
sein!" motto theme ofthe finale "challenges traditional aesthetics of melodic writing"
because of its "stubborn insistence upon the unresolved fourth scale degree, bb" (see
Example 1.14).40 Cacioppo believes that by skipping from the Bb down to F (instead of
Example 1.14. The "Unresolved" [?] Fourth Scale Degree of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Motive.
resolving it down stepwise to A), "Beethoven heretically mocks the responsibility
toward stylistic resolution [according to the dictates of counterpoint], and proceeds to
make a theme of the prank.,,41 Moreover, Cacioppo views the motive's perfect fourth as
39See Cacioppo, 210 (Fig. 2).
40Ibid ., 227.
41Ibid ., 228.
20
a motto that "epitomizes the quartal personality of the musical language of this piece.,,42
It seems to me, however, that the B~ and F in Beethoven's motive are not really
connected melodically and that each note belongs to a separate strand of a compound
melody (see Figure 1.1):
Figure 1.1. Two Distinct Voice-leading Strands within Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Motive.
What is more, the B~ does actually resolve to A in the quartet, though it is the A that is
unfolded an octave lower in the viola.43 Indeed throughout the work, the
groundbreaking quartal and whole-tone sounds Cacioppo attributes to the F major
quartet can be understood alternatively as moments of embellished tertian harmony if
one invokes some standard Schenkerian concepts such as compound melody and register
transfer.
Incredibly, it appears no writers other than Cacioppo have attempted to explain
the hannonic structure of Beethoven's last string quartet. Although Schenker himself
does provide a remote background sketch of the first 32 measures of op. 135's scherzo
movement (to illustrate ~vn as the beginning of a chromaticized dominant
prolongational span44), a comprehensive analysis of the quartet's large-scale tonal
structures has yet to be published. Again, this absence may have something to do with
42Ibid.
43See my voice-leading analysis of the finale in Appendix A, measure 17.
44Schenker's analytical sketch appears in Free Composition, Figure 111, al. Note that bVII in the
F major Scherzo is Eb--"Es" in German-which ties the music to the epigraph of the finale.
21
the elusive quality of the late quartets in general. In his study of opp. 127, 132, and 130,
Chua speaks of the quartets' ability to "disable" analysis, believing the music's
contradictions and "heterogeneity of histories and emotions" forces analysis away from
unity towards paradox, ambiguity, and disconnection. As a consequence, Chua argues,
"the analytical inadequacies will give way to ambiguities and impasses; harmonic logic
will fail to connect," and "Schenker graphs will 'warp' under the strain of demonstrating
motivic structures."45 In this study of op. 135, however, I have found Schenker's
method effective in untangling the labyrinth of voices to reveal simpler middleground
and background harmonic structures on both local and global levels. Though it is
certainly not without its challenges, the F major quartet has not caused the voice-leading
graphs herein to "warp" or present an otherwise distorted image of the Schenkerian
Ursatz. Whether this is because op. 135 is somehow fundamentally different from the
other late quartets, as some commentators have professed, remains to be seen.
From the beginning, there have been critics who perceived Beethoven's final
string quartet as evoking an earlier tradition. In a commentary on the excessive
contrasts in opp. 130 and 131, Beethoven's personal assistant and rather unreliable
biographer, Anton Schindler, notes: "A sustained style can be found only in the four
movements of the quartet in F major, Gp. 135," whose premiere, Schindler adds, "was a
success, since the work offered no stylistic, harmonic or technical peculiarities."46 In
45Ch "G l' . "Q 9ua, a [tzm uartets, .
46Anton Schindler, Beethoven as J Knew Him, trans. Constance S. Jolly from the 3rd edition of
Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven of 1860, ed. Donald W. MacArdle (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1966), 308.
22
other words, the final quartet returned to a more comfortable, familiar style that was
more in line with its original audience's understanding of the genre. A. B. Marx wrote
in his review of the quartet that it "appears to us as melancholy memories of a more
beautiful bygone time.,,47 This sentiment is echoed nearly a century and a halflater by
Joseph Kerman, when he refers to the quartet as "nostalgic." Kerman calls the first
movement of Beethoven's op. 135 "his most successful evocation of the style of Haydn
and Mozart," 48 and then goes further to say that the movement "at last matches and
outmatches Haydn and Mozart on their own ground.,,49 Martin Cooper refers similarly
to the "neo-Haydn exterior" of the first and last movements, and calls attention to the
new lighthearted tone of op. 135:
Beethoven seems to have exorcised the angels and the demons, pity and telTor, to
have momentarily finished with supramundane contemplation and the Dionysian
assertion of the significance oflife's struggles and contradictions. He is now
content to cultivative [sic] his garden, to smile and to remember, to mock a little
perhaps at his own dramatization of cosmic problems and to exercise his
incomparable gift for musical invention, the instinctive grasp and unfolding of a
single melodic cell's potentialities.50
Notably, each of the foregoing statements that Beethoven's last quartet evokes an earlier
style comes from a text that deals with the work on a less detailed, less technical level
than do the analytical studies surveyed earlier. In making such statements, these
47AdolfBernhard Marx, review ofa concert performance of the String Quartet in F Major, Op.
135, by Ludwig van Beethoven, In Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung Jg. 6 (1829): 169-170.
Quoted and translated in Kristin Marta Knittel, "From Chaos to History: The Reception of Beethoven's
Late Quartets" (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1992),99-100.
48Joseph Kerman, The Beethoven Quartets (New Yark: Knopf, 1967), 354.
49Ibid., 358.
50Martin Cooper, Beethoven: The Last Decade, 1817-1827 (London: Oxford University Press,
1970),404.
23
authors, might have been responding to such overt characteristics as the F major
quartet's more modest proportions, its more conventional treatment of form, its
avoidance of abrupt remote tonal juxtapositions, and its lighter emotional character
overall. Given these plainly audible differences with the preceding quartets, such
conclusions about the F major only seem natural-that is, unless one delves beneath its
surface. In response to the views expressed by Kerman, Ratner (who hears in op. 135
echoes of the eighteenth-century galant), and others, Lewis Lockwood raises the same
argument: "The basis for this judgment lies essentially in externals.... these comments
fail to look behind the mask of affability that the quartet wears on its surface, disclosing
unmistakable features of [Beethoven's] late quartet style and much that moves in new
directions within that style."SI
In contrast, several more recent writers have attached a greater significance to
Beethoven's last quartet. For Kathryn Bumpass, the style of op. 135 represents "less a
retreat from the extraordinary features of the four preceding quartets than a synthesis of
those features with Beethoven's early quartet style.,,52 Specifically, this "synthesis"
involves Beethoven reconciling the polyphonic density of his late style with the more
homophonic and formally transparent Classical style. In this light, op. 135 represents a
laudable achievement rather than a regressive disappointment. Daniel Chua too believes
the F major quartet is more than just a nostalgic return to an earlier style. Such an
51Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York and London: W.W. Norton,
2003),483.
52Laura Kathryn Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet" (Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, 1982),293.
24
"innocent return," he argues, is impossible after the radical disintegration brought about
in the "Galitzin" Quartets (opp. 127, 130, and 131). "Instead, there is an air of
indifference," Chua says, "as if the progress of the 'Galitzin' Quartets had simply
reached a point of stasis, and all that is left is the history of that progress to play with.,,53
In their own way, Chua and Bumpass are both suggesting that the style of op. 135, while
different from the other late quartets, is a continuation of (or perhaps even an
appropriate conclusion to) that remarkable artistic expression Beethoven began with the
composition of op. 127.
Besides being read as a source of nostalgia, a stylistic reconciliation, and a
historical commentary, Beethoven's last quartet receives yet another kind of
interpretation from analysts like Reti, Cooke, Cacioppo, and Reynolds. As we have
seen, these writers tend to view the quartet as a work of subtle genius. While Reti,
Cooke, and Reynolds each claim to discover an astounding level of organic coherence in
the quartet's intricate motivic relationships, Cacioppo regards the work as pioneering in
its use of what he believes are quartal and whole-tone sonorities. It comes as no
surprise, of course, that such analytical texts should find Beethoven's quartet
praiseworthy, since analysts are not likely to invest themselves so deeply in works they
consider to be less than masterful. More generally, what these analytical writings help
convey, however, is how diverse the critical opinions of Beethoven's last quartet have
truly been.
5jChua, "Galitzin" Quartets, 4.
25
K.M. Knittel proposes in her dissertation, "From Chaos to History: The
Reception of Beethoven's Late Quartets," that critical evaluations ofop. 135 have
tended to be driven by underlying assumptions about the traumatic events of the
composer's final year. Biography, she believes, is invoked to "salvage Beethoven's
reputation from the accusations of reversion or nostalgia in op. 135.,,54 According to
Knittel, critics inevitably portray the author of the F major quartet alternately in either a
passive or active light:
The passive interpretation uses biography to make an excuse for the quartet.
Because of his illness, Beethoven simply either wanted to complete the quartet in
the shortest time possible, or was unable to complete it in the way he would have
liked. Therefore, Beethoven's good intentions were thwarted by forces he could
not control. 55
In the active plot, on the other hand, Beethoven overcomes his circumstances to produce
in the twilight of his life, sublime music. This particular interpretation, Knittel explains,
"hinges on Beethoven's conscious desire to compose a fitting end to his quartet cycle.,,56
More than that, Beethoven, sensing the end was near, "wanted to create a final
masterpiece as a farewell.,,57
Knittel's argument becomes somewhat controversial, however, when she reveals
another essential aspect of her theory:
Both the active and passive view of Beethoven's composition of the quartet
op. 135 rely on Beethoven's intention to compose a set of qUaliets, and both
views require the critic to place op. 135 into the context of the other four late
54Kr istin Marta Knittel, "From Chaos to History: The Reception of Beethoven's Late Quartets"
(Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1992),256.
55Ibid.,257.
56Ibid .. 264.
57Ibid.,257.
26
quartets. If the critic chooses to follow the active path, then he or she must show
how the F major quartet does fit into the trajectory begun by the other four by
unveiling [usually through analysis] its subtle genius. The followers of the
passive path try to show how the quartet succeeds at least upon its own terms,
but fails to live up to the standards set by the other four quartets. 58
This line of reasoning certainly rings true for those "passive-view" critics who, in light
of the other late quartets, cannot help feeling let down by op. 135. But Knittel assumes
a lot when she suggests that "active-view" critics must necessarily be concerned with the
quartet's perceived failure and are consequently obsessed with portraying it as a true
Schwanengesang of the "cycle." She even goes so far as to say that op. 135 "never
appears as an autonomous work, even in the most 'analytical' discussions,,,59 and that "It
is not possible to view the quartet in itself as a 'success': that success must be measured
on the terms of the other four late quartets.,,60 I find such statements difficult to accept
in light of the analytic writings discussed at the beginning of this literature survey, since
only Cooke tries to demonstrate unity between op. 135 and the preceding four quartets.
The rest of the analysts-Schoenberg, R6ti, Cacioppo, and Reynolds-mention
Beethoven's other late quartets only incidentally if at all. In spite ofthis fact, Knittel
cites Reynolds as one of her "active view" critics concerned with showing how op. 135
fits into the trajectory established by the preceding quartets. She claims that Reynolds,
in demonstrating the F major to be a "subtle masterpiece ofmotivic and cyclic unity,"
thereby "ignores the criticism of op. 135 as insufficient by creating a reading in which it
58Ibid., 268-269.
59Ibid., 269.
6OIbid., 263-264.
27
is invaluable.,,61 Knittel may be right in saying that Reynolds "ignores the criticism of
op. 135," since he never mentions it at all, but it is a stretch to imply that his
analysis-which certainly appears to praise the quartet as a success on its own
terms-has instead a hidden agenda aimed at countering some perceived failure of op.
135. Knittel also reveals something about her own assumptions when she says Reynolds
"creates a reading that does not allow for Beethoven to have lost control, or to compose
unworthy pieces.,,62 Her implication here is that Reynolds set out to concoct some kind
of scheme that would save op. 135 by elevating it to the rank of the other four late
quartets. But how can she be so sure what his (or anyone else's) motivation is? Perhaps
Reynolds's favorable view of Beethoven's last quartet is driven instead by all the
inventive and sophisticated relationships he discovered in his analytical exploration.
Who is to say that saving the quartet from some critics' perceived failure has anything to
do with it? Such a view would also seem to downplay the value of the interesting
findings that have been made through analysis. I believe that Beethoven's last quartet
holds many wonderfully nuanced details that have yet to be discovered, and therefore
we should embrace the work's potential to being great on its own terms. This is the
spirit that inspires and propels this present study.
61Ibid., 267-268.
62Ibid., 254-255; emphasis added.
28
CHAPTER II
A BASIC SET OF TONES IN "DIVERSE MIRROR FORMS":
OPUS 135, FOURTH MOVEMENT
It is probably unrealistic to insist that all the themes in Beethoven's last quartet
stem from just a few source motives, however there do appear to be some convincing
motivic connections that span the entire work. Not surprisingly, motives based on the
"Muss es sein?" and "Es muss sein!" pitch patterns inscribed at the head of the finale
wind up having the greatest global significance. This naturally lends the finale a special
function as it offers us a framework for interpreting certain key themes presented earlier
in the quartet. For this reason, the final movement is an ideal place to begin exploring,
because doing so will give us a sense of the various transformational and combinational
possibilities inherent in Beethoven's main motives. Following Schoenberg's lead, we
shall consider, among other things, how the "Muss es sein?" and "Es muss sein!" themes
of the finale represent a basic set of tones that the composer arranges in "diverse mirror
forms.,,63
Just prior to beginning work on the F major quartet in the summer of 1826,
Beethoven is said to have dashed off the following joke-canon in response to an amusing
63Schoenberg,220.
29
incident with one Ignaz Dembscher, a wealthy music patron and quartet lover who served
as an official of the Austrian war department (see Example 2.1):64
Example 2.1. Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Canon, WoO 196.65
Schnell. 1m Eifer
sf.. sf
Es muB sein! Es muB sein! la, ja. ja,_
Es muB sein! la, ja, ja, ja. Es muB sein! la, ja, ja, ja.
Her - aus mit dem Beu - tel! Her - aus, her-aus! Es muB sein.
la, ja, ja. ja, ja. ja, ja, ja, ja, ja, Es muB scin!
Not only does the canon's opening motto (and text) find a new home in the op. 135
quartet finale, the very idea of canon becomes that movement's motivating force. The
link between the joke-canon and the quartet finale is confirmed by entries in Beethoven's
64The story behind the joke-canon is detailed in Elliot Forbes, ed., Thayer's Life ofBeethoven
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967): 976. "Dembscher had neglected to subscribe for
Schuppanzigh's concert [premiere of Beethoven's op. 130] and had said that he would have it played at his
house, since it was easy for him to get manuscripts from Beethoven for that purpose. He applied to
Beethoven for the Quartet, but the latter refused to let him have it, and Holz, as he related to Beethoven,
told Dembscher in the presence of other persons that Beethoven would not let him have any more music
because he had not attended Schuppanzigh's concert. Dembscher stammered in confusion and begged
Holz to find some means to restore him to Beethoven's good graces. Holz said that the first step should be
to send Schuppanzigh 50 florins, the price of the subscription. Dembscher laughingly asked, "Must it be?"
("Muss es sein?") When Holz related the incident to Beethoven he too laughed and instantly wrote down
the ... canon."
65The transcription is by Ludwig Misch and it corrects several misread pitches of Beethoven's
autograph that were made by earlier transcribers. See Ludwig Misch, "Noch ein verstilmmelter Kanon von
Beethoven," Die Musikforschung 8/3 (1955): 327; reprinted in Ludwig Misch, Neue Beethoven-Studien
und andere Themen (Bonn: Beethovenhaus; Munich and Duisburg: G. Henle Verlag, 1967),50. The
transcription also appears in Donald W. MacArdle and Ludwig Misch, trans. and ed., New Beethoven
Letters (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957),512.
30
sketchbooks that suggest the composer had been working out his ideas for both pieces
around the same time;66 this evidence, as Lewis Lockwood has pointed out, casts
suspicion on that part of the fabled story that portrays Beethoven swiftly jotting down the
joke-canon one day in Apri1.67 Although concrete connections between the canon and
the quartet finale appear to be limited to various reworkings of the motto theme, the idea
of canon, along with related contrapuntal techniques, exerts a powerful influence on the
quartet movement as a whole. As the sketches demonstrate, Beethoven was absorbed in
trying out various contrapuntal combinations with his "Es muss sein!" theme, and at one
point he even tags a set of musical entries as "canonnisch.,,68
Besides canon, another, equally essential, characteristic of the finale is the idea of
contrasting opposites, which is encapsulated in the movement's epigraph (refer to
Example 1.1 above). Daniel Chua elucidates this dialectic particularly well:
What Beethoven emphasizes in the epigram is the oppositional structure of the
conversation, by dissecting and labelling the elements as a table of contrasts
before the movement begins: bass and treble clef, question and exclamation mark,
triple and duple time, Grave and Allegro, up and down, single and double
statements, 'atonal' and diatonic intervals, statement and sequence.69
66Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 230-231. Upon scrutinizing the sketches, Bumpass also
informs us, "it is not always possible to distinguish with certainty between the sketches for the canon and
those for the finale" (203).
67See Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York and London: W. W.
Norton, 2003), 480.
68See Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 234. Here, the author presents a transcription of the
sketch page in question (folio 2v of Manuscript 66, group 9, which is housed at the Bibliotheque Naticnale
in Paris). Curiously, this passage does not appear to be canonical at all, and so perhaps Beethoven
intended the title "canonnisch" as a mental note rather than a description of his sketch. In addition, this
particular passage does not make its way into the finished quartet, although similar sketches that work out
contrapuntal settings of the "Es muss sein!" motto certainly do.
69Daniel K. L. Chua, Absolute Music and the Construction ofMeaning (Cambridge and New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1999),282.
31
This polarity expressed by Beethoven's musical question ("Muss es sein?) and response
("Es muss sein!") is realized within the body ofthe quartet finale through the contrasting
Grave and Allegro sections. The individual characters of the slow and fast sections
appear to occupy such disparate emotional worlds, that, were it not for their motivic
connections, it would be difficult to comprehend them belonging to the same movement.
Perhaps Beethoven is making a joke here after all, and this is precisely it. As the Grave
introduction sets the stage for the kind of profound artistic inquiry into man's Destiny
that "surged from the very depths ofthe Beethovenian soul," as Rolland put it,70 the
Allegro simply shrugs off the weighty question and takes off cheerfully without a care in
the world. Thus Beethoven plays a trick on us by escalating our expectations for a
serious dramatic piece, only to catch us off guard with a whimsical about-face.
All of these characteristics of the finale-its polar contrasts, the influence of
canon, and its various motivic transformations-must be taken into consideration if we
have any hope of finding meaning and coherence in the movement. But we must also be
careful not to pass over the work's small- and large-scale tonal framework. For one
thing, the various levels of the finale's harmonic-contrapuntal organization, understood
in the Schenkerian sense, provide the analyst with a vital quality-control system when it
comes to identifying and interpreting Beethoven's complex motivic relationships. And if
the movement does, in fact, compose out a genuine Schenkerian Ursafz, then that, in
7°Romain Rolland, Beethoven: les Grandes Epoques Creatrices, vol. 5, La Cathedrale
1nterrompue: Tome 11. Les derniers Quatuors (Paris: Editions du Sablier, 1943),299-300; quoted in
Joseph Kerman, The Beethoven Quartets (New York: Knopf, 1967),363.
32
itself, will contribute a fundamental level of coherence. With this in mind, let us now
explore each of the major sections of this sonata-form movement.
The Introduction (mm. 1-12)
The finale's slow introduction (marked "Grave rna non troppo tratto") is
obsessed with posing the question: "Muss es sein?" Beethoven begins the movement
with the interrogative form of his motive sounded in octaves by the viola and cello. In
presenting the "Muss es sein?" pattern unaccompanied in the first measure, he
symbolizes the motto's question musically as he provokes the listener to question the
very tonality of the movement. It is not until the middle of measure 2 that the
introduction's F minor tonality comes into focus. As a general technique, Beethoven
creates harmonic ambiguity in the quartet by delaying the resolution of one or more
structural pitches. At the beginning of the Grave, for instance, the first two notes of the
"Muss es sein?" motive unfold the interval of a third, G-H; although the upper voice (G)
resolves directly to Ab in measure 1, Beethoven puts off resolving the lower voice (E~)
until the viola bass note F arrives on the third beat of the following measure (m. 2). This
delayed resolution in the bass is what causes the moment of tonal uncertainty at the
movement's outset. The voice leading between these unfolding thirds (G-H resolving to
AI.-F) is illustrated more clearly at level b (mm. 1-2) of my voice-leading sketch of the
finale (see Appendix A).
As soon as the first "Muss es sein?" statement is finished in measure 1,
Beethoven injects the idea of canon into the movement by setting imitative scalar
descents (C-BI.-AI.-G-F) in the first violin, viola, and the second violin at the distance of
33
one beat apart (see mm. 1-2). Just as F minor begins to emerge as tonic, however, the
music takes a turn that once again tempts the listener to question the tonal center. In
measures 3--4, Beethoven tonicizes Bb minor by transposing the music of the first two
bars up a fourth. 71 The fact that Beethoven introduces a new tonal area so early in the
movement, and that he does it with the same material, is what leads us to question the
governing centricity of F minor. Only in hindsight do we recognize mas iv.
It is worth noting that the Bb minor transposition is even less stable than the F
minor beginning. This is because when the structural bass finally reaches Bb on the third
beat of measure 4 (violin II), the harmony mutates from minor to major and the cello
slips in an Ab as the lowest sounding voice.72 The fact that Beethoven emphasizes
Bb7/Ab in measure 5 is significant. According to the conventions of functional tonal
harmony, this chord (as Vi/VII) threatens to lead us even further from the tonic F minor
to an Eb chord. And considering what Christopher Reynolds has brought to light about
Eb representing the German "Es" in this movement, we can recognize Beethoven making
yet another play on our expectations: as we hear V/VII, we might rightfully ask
ourselves, "Muss Es (Eb) sein?" Beethoven answers negatively for now, however, and
does not allow Eb to materialize. Instead, he leads Bb7/Ab to a diminished seventh,
71Notice in the transposed version (mm. 3-4) that the voice order of the imitative entries changes
to violin I, violin II, viola.
72This A~ is probably best understood as a passing seventh that comes in one beat sooner than
expected. m, then is the structural bass in measure 4 (see the voice-leading graph in Appendix A, mm.
4-5).
---------------
34
E07/G, which functions as viio~ ofF minor, making possible a smooth return to the tonic
in measure 8.73
Beethoven's opening bars of the finale are not only tonally ambiguous, they are
metrically ambiguous as well. The first four-and-a-halfmeasures could just as well be
perceived in duple meter instead of Beethoven's notated triple (see Example 2.2). A
listener might be led to interpret the opening measures of the finale this way largely
Example 2.2. Duple Meter Reinterpretation ofOp. 135, iv, mm. 1-5 (simplified).
because of the first violin, whose entrance (shown in the top staff of Example 2.2) creates
a distinct accent as it is the first and the highest statement of the imitative group.74 Also,
a duple interpretation of this passage is fitting because, just like the notated original, it
positions Beethoven's repeating motives consistently within their respective measures.
Of course, the duple pattern does not last long, and the metrical orientation of the
accented repeating chords (~-= .I) in measures 5-6 will surely cause sensitive listeners to
shift their perceptions to triple meter. But this is the point. By changing the positions of
his accents, Beethoven is now playing with our expectation for a consistent, stable meter.
73Coming from m7/A~, the E07/G would be a "common-tone" diminished seventh if the m were
maintained in the same octave between measures 5 and 6.
740 bserve that for each group of imitative entries, the third imitative voice is omitted in Example
2.2 for the sake of clarity.
35
And he continues to do this through the remainder of the introduction. In measures 7-11,
for instance, he maintains his accented [~.1 chords in the upper voices, but he shifts their
location so that the motive now begins on the second beat of each measure. In spite of
the shift, there is something there that tempts us to continue hearing the accented-chord
motive as a downbeat marker, so that the passage in question might be perceived as
follows (see Example 2.3):75
Example 2.3. Shifted Metrical Accents in Op. 135, iv, mm. 5-11.
nJ qn~ n~ DJ DJ
f f dim. p
J. q~ ql)~ p
f f pcrescf ff-::=- U r Ur
perceived 1 2 3 \1 2 3 4! \1 2 3 !1 2 3 11 2 11 2 3 11 2 31
meter
This is not to suggest that Example 2.3 illustrates the preferred way to hear the passage,
particularly since it would require the perception of mixed meter, however it does
represent one logical way to experience the piece. The key point is that Beethoven's
metrical ambiguity plays an important role in conveying the emotions wrapped up in his
question, "Muss es sein?"
From a Schenkerian viewpoint, we can see that the deeper voice leading of the
Grave also symbolizes the motto's question (see Appendix A, mm. 1-12). The upper
voice, which is embellished with some rather striking register transfers, traces a structural
75Notice in Example 2.3 that hearing the n.l rhythmic motive as a downbeat marker would imply
a meter change in measure 6 to the beginning of measure 7 and in measure 10 where the lower strings
come in with the motive.
36
linear descent from the primary tone C (5) down to the second scale degree G (2). In
typical fashion, the melodic interruption of the Urlinie here is supported harmonically by
a half cadence, which, according to classical convention, generally has the function of a
musical "question.,,76 In order to heighten the suspense associated with his half cadence
even more, Beethoven adds both a dissonant seventh (Bb) and ninth (Db) to his dominant
harmony (mm. 10-11). The introduction ends, however, with a quiet intensity as
Beethoven brings the dynamic level down to pianissimo and reduces the texture to bare
octaves. The effect is as if Beethoven were motioning for us to lean in closer so that he
might finally whisper into our ears the secret answer to his most profound philosophical
question.
The Exposition (mm. 13-80)
With the emotional heaviness of the Grave hanging almost palpably in the air, the
vibrant whimsy of the Allegro proves to be a shock to the system. Beethoven begins
straight away with his "Es muss sein!" answer motif being sounded in octaves by the two
violins. In addition to bewildering us with the Allegro's extreme mood shift, the
composer also confronts us with his unusual late-style counterpoint. For instance, the A~
pick-up note of the "Es muss sein!" theme belongs harmonically with its upper third, C,
which appears on the downbeat of measure 13.77 Oddly, though, the A~ is not consonant
76William Caplin reminds us that half cadences are typical at the ends of slow introductions in
sonata form movements. He also insists that such introductions "almost always contain something of the
uncertain and hesitant." See William E. Caplin, Classical Form: A Theory ofFormal Functionsfor the
Instrumental Music ofHaydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
1998),205.
771 illustrate the relationship between these two pitches by connecting them with Schenker's
unfolding symbol, 1:-1 (see Appendix A, mm. 12-13, level a).
37
with the prolonged dominant harmony that supports measures 13-14. How are we to
comprehend such a pitch that is so vital motivically, yet not supported by the harmony?
At level b of my voice-leading sketch (Appendix A, m. 13), I interpret the A~ as
somewhat of a "free dissonance" (more specifically, an incomplete neighbor) that gets
prolonged in the middleground chord progression. As discussed in the previous chapter,
the double statement of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" motive unfolds two voices ofa
compound melody in parallel thirds. Taken on its own, the motive's voice-leading
structure represents a simple tonic prolongation in F major (see Example 2.4). The
Example 2.4. Voice-leading Structure of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" Motive.
.------------------------/
Es muss sew! Es muss sein!
typical way to harmonize these thirds would be I-V7-I , so it is quite unusual (and
fascinating) that Beethoven would support the initial A-C third with V (C major). To be
fair, though, the passage does not sound all that strange. Part of it is because of the quick
tempo, but it is also because the accompanying bass line does not enter until after the
38
downbeat, so that by the time we actually realize the harmony in measure 13 is V, the
"dissonant" pitch, A, has already resolved.
A similarly curious moment occurs when the B~ of the motto arrives on the
downbeat of measure IS-the very moment when the harmony changes to I (F major).
Motivically, the B~ is the upper voice of the unfolded third, G-Bb, yet it appears
dissonant above F major. The pattern of unfolded thirds, however, allows us to make
sense of Beethoven's bizarre dissonance as a displaced structural pitch, and so the
middleground voice-leading analysis at level b of Appendix A (mm. 13-15) begins to
reveal a consistent pattern of unstable pitches on downbeats.
One last comment about Beethoven's "middleground motive" of parallel thirds is
that, throughout the quartet, the final note in the upper voice must often be implied in
order to complete the voice-leading pattern (as in levels b and c of Example 2.4). The
first time Beethoven presents the motive, however, the B~ does actually resolve to A,
although it is the lower-octave A played by the viola in measure 17.78
The second phrase of the Allegro is an example of a common theme-type in
Beethoven's music that Schoenberg dubbed the "sentence": a two-bar presentation of a
basic idea (mm. 17-18) is echoed by a sequential repetition of that idea (mm. 19-20),
which is then followed by a four-bar continuation (mm. 21-24) that balances and
concludes the phrase.79 Observe also that the presentation segment here includes the
78Notice that at levels band c of the voice-leading analysis, A is normalized to its more natural
structural register (see Appendix A, mm. 15-17).
79The three parts of the sentence are typically in the proportional ratio 1: 1:2. While Schoenberg
did not explicitly give names to these parts, they have come to be known by the labels presentation,
repetition, and continuation. See Arnold Schoenberg, Fundamentals ofMusical Composition [written
39
motive that Schoenberg recognized as the retrograde inversion (RI) of"Es muss sein!"
filled in with passing tones (see Example 1.2 above).8o But whereas Schoenberg
highlights the F, C, and Eb of the motive, my reading of the segment emphasizes the
unfolding thirds that match the original motto.8! Figure 2.1 illustrates how the unfolding
thirds of both motives compare abstractly using scale-degree numbers: 82
Figure 2.1. Similar "Unfolded" Thirds in Beethoven's Motive Forms.
"Es muss sein!" RI of "Es muss sein!"
The similarities between the two motives at this middleground level are plain to see: the
unfolded thirds involve the very same scale degrees within their respective keys, and the
only difference has to do with the order of the scale degrees presented in the initial third.
What this shows is that these "diverse mirror forms" of Beethoven's motive exhibit a
high degree of middleground similarity.
1937--48] (New York: St, Martin's Press, 1967), chaps. 5 and 8. William Caplin offers a compatible yet
slightly different explication of the sentence in Classical Form: A Theory ofFormal Functionsfor the
Instrumental Music ofHaydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1998), chaps. 1 & 3.
8°0 f course, many musicians will also recognize the likeness between this motive and
Beethoven's inverted fugue subject from his Piano Sonata, op. 110 (see movement iii, mm. 136-138).
81See Appendix A, mm. 17-18, level a. Oddly enough, Schoenberg's reading of the RI motive,
which connects F and C at the beginning (instead of unfolding the opening third, F-D), is more
conventionally Schenkerian than mine, while my reading emphasizes the motivic sequence by graphing the
presentation and repetition segments of the sentence the same way. Here, my reading would fall under
Cohn's situation #2 discussed in Chapter I (pp. 11-12); see also Cohn, 157.
82The RI form of the motive tonicizes Bb, and therefore its scale-degree numbers are given in that
key.
---------------_._--""--_.._----
40
A Schenkerian reading of the first violin's motive beginning at measure 17
requires a similar interpretation as the one proposed for the motto statement back in
measures 12-13, where 3(A) is structural motivically, yet not supported by the harmony
of the accompaniment. In measure 17, it is the violin's D that is not supported by the
prolonged harmony (F major); while the unfolding pattern emphasizes D, the supporting
harmony contradicts it. Just like before, we have here something of a "free dissonance"
that gets prolonged in the middleground chord progression (see Appendix A, mm. 17-18,
level b). The embellished RI version of "Es muss sein!" in measures 17-20 is also a
double statement (i.e., the motive repeats sequentially). The second statement (mm.
19-20), which represents the repetition segment of the sentence form, suspends the same
unfolded third (C-B) that was consonant in measure 18 as part ofF7 (y7 IIV), but is
now dissonant over the Bb chord (IV). Again, the analytical sketch in Appendix A (level
b) shows the harmonic displacement clearly, and it also ties the middleground pattern of
three descending thirds (mm. 17-20) to the same pattern at the beginning of the Allegro
(mm. 13_15).83
Despite the displacement of structural melodic pitches and the occasional
prolonged dissonance, the underlying harmony of the Allegro has been, up to this point,
fairly clear-cut. In measure 21, however, it becomes decidedly more ambiguous. Part of
the ambiguity has to do with the eight-measure prolonged tonic pedal (F) in the cello
(mm. 17-24) against which the subordinate chord changes in the upper voices sometimes
83Notice at level b, however, that the motivic thirds are shifted metrically: in measures 13-15 the
middleground pattern is "strong-weak, strong-weak," while in mm. 17-20 it is "weak-strong,
weak-strong."
41
clash. In measure 21, for instance, the viola plays a G-Bb double stop, suggesting ii over
the structural F pedal point that, for the moment, is not part of the local (i.e., subordinate)
G minor harmony. At this local level, then, G is the functional bass note in the
subordinate progression, even though it is not literally the lowest sounding pitch.84
Naturally, it can be confusing when structural voices do not appear as the highest or
lowest sounding part, however voice-leading context can usually help us determine an
appropriate way to interpret a passage. Consider another instance, where the viola begins
to double the first violin's melody a third higher on the last quarter note of measure 21.
True, the viola is the highest sounding voice at the moment, however there is such
continuity in the first violin's melodic line that its structural function cannot be
overthrown. Furthermore, the viola can be seen as a canonic embellishment of the first
violin part: in measures 21-22, the first violin plays D-C-Bb-A, and two quarter notes
~
later the viola plays a decorated version of that stepwise line as D-C-D-C-Bb-A. The
fact that the viola part is an imitation, then, gives us another reason not to consider it the
structural upper voice.85
Further interpretive challenges arise in measure 22, where the cello's F pedal plus
the downbeat A and C (played by the violin and viola) inevitably tempt us to read the
local harmony as tonic (F major). But if we listen to the whole phrase carefully, a
genuine return to the tonic does not seem to occur until the cadence in measure 24. So if
there were a true tonic in measure 22, it would spoil the effect of the resolution and the
84For this reason, I have implied the local "functional" bass, G. in the bass register (notated in
parentheses) in my analysis (see Appendix A, m. 21, level a).
85At level b of Appendix A (mm. 21-24) the viola part is given in smaller stemless note heads to
indicate that it is an embellishing "covering" progression.
42
sense of arrival that comes at the cadence. Furthermore, to call the harmony in measure
22 a tonic would suggest the less formulaic chord progression ii-I-V, or, functionally
speaking,pre-dominant-tonic -dominant (mm. 21-23). An alternative solution is
given in Appendix A (mm. 22, levels b and c). Here, the A and C are considered
accented passing tones in the subordinate progression (over the tonic pedal), which are
themselves embellished by upper neighbors. This reading suggests that the local
harmony in both measures 21 and 22 is G minor (ii), which prepares the cadence in a
very conventional way. At the cadence, the dominant in measure 23 is embellished
similarly with accented passing tones, F and A, played by the violin and viola; although,
we might now label the sonority on the downbeat as a ddential six-four, the technique of
embellishment is exactly the same as it was in the previous bar. If we now examine the
implied functional bass line of Beethoven's sentence (m. 17-24), we can see that its
structural middleground skeleton is F-BI,-G-C-F (see Appendix A, level b). Although
this is admittedly a common bass-line pattern in tonal music, the first four notes
(F-BI,-G-C) do correspond to the retrograde of "Es muss sein!" when their registers are
normalized. 86 So at a deeper level, we can locate the retrograde inversion of the motto in
the upper voice sounding against the retrograde of the motto. Considering the vital roles
that canonic technique and motivic transformation play in this movement, perhaps such
an interpretation is not altogether unfathomable.
86The retrograde motive here is one note short of being complete, however. It is missing the final
pitch A (i.e., F-m-G-C-A). Again, musicians will also likely recognize this motive as having the same
shape as the famous fugue subject from Beethoven's Piano Sonata, op. 110 (see movement iii, mm.
26-28).
43
To be sure, a Schenkerian-style analysis goes a long way towards clarifying the
harmony and voice leading of such a passage. With Beethoven, however, we can also
sift through the composer's sketchbooks for clues. Example 2.5 is based on one of the
sketches for the phrase we have just been considering. Notice particularly the last half of
Example 2.5. After Beethoven's Sketch for Op. 135, iv, mm. 17_24.87
"
oJ ...
n P- n p. ? <9 ? 1:< e ? ? e ~
.,~ ri r-.n: -...- ...... --..,.- r-.n: -.--- r-~
I
the example. In the fifth measure, Beethoven's viola part (middle staff) includes G, B~,
and E~. If we ignore the F pedal for the moment and include the D in the top staff, the
sonority of the measure is E07/G, or viiot And while the E~ is not literally present in the
next measure, we retain the pitch mentally so that the diminished chord continues to be
prolonged. These fifth and sixth measures are where the greatest difference occurs
between the sketch and the final product. Specifically, Beethoven chose not to use the H
in his finished quartet, so the harmony in measures 21-22 is more likely heard as G
minor (ii). Based on the sketch evidence, of course, we could imply the H in the quartet,
but the fact that Beethoven deliberately omitted the leading tone seems significant. It
87This example is distilled from Kathryn Bumpass's transcription of Manuscript Artaria 216,
p. 36, staves 1-9. See Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," vol II (Transcriptions), 328. The manuscript
is held at the Staatsbibliothek Preussicher Kulturbesitz in Berlin.
44
could be that he later changed his mind about the harmony, or that he really intended for
it to be ambiguous.
In measure 25, we encounter the most overtly canonical passage in the
movement: Beethoven repeats the material from his previous sentence, however the
theme is now set imitatively in the two violins. As we can see, the second violin is the
leader, while the first violin follows a measure later and an octave higher. 88 One result of
the canonic setting is that the harmonic pacing must be adjusted to accommodate the
trailing voice. Figure 2.2 compares the basic harmonies of the original phrase (mm.
17-24) and the canonic one (mm. 25-32). The first difference occurs in measure 27,
where Beethoven must repeat V7 IIY (F7) in to order to support the unfolded third, C-B,
Figure 2.2. Comparison between Beethoven's Original Phrase and its Canonic Version.
meas. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
R.N. I Y7 /IV IV IV ii y 6- 5 III 4-3
root F F Bb Bb G G C F
meas. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
R.N. I Y 7 /IV Y 7 /IV IV IV ii y 6- 5 I4-3
root F F F Bb Bb G C F
played by trailing violin 1. Remarkably, this adjusted harmonic progression is able to
support both voices of the canon properly, however it does create an unusual effect
against the "normal" pacing of the lead voice (violin II). While the second violin plays a
conventional sentence consisting of a two-bar presentation (mm. 25-26), a two-bar
repetition (mm. 27-28), and a four-bar continuation (mm. 29-32), the harmonic root
88In order to symbolize the following voice's lower structural rank, it is notated using smaller
notes in Appendix A (see mm. 25-32, levels b and c).
45
motion projects a dissimilar grouping structure of 3+2+3 bars (i.e., three measures ofF,
two measures of Bb, and finally three cadential measures). And so we are faced with yet
another passage in which contradictory information breeds ambiguity.
Before moving on, let us compare the analogous measures 22 and 30 to see if the
latter might shed some light on the former. Recall that, upon first glance, the harmony in
measure 22 appeared to be tonic (F major), yet other considerations, including
Beethoven's own sketch materials, contradicted such a reading. As it turns out, the
situation is somewhat clearer in measure 30. Specifically, the sustained G and Bb whole
notes in the viola no longer allow F major (I) to be a candidate, and (despite the F pedal
in the bass) seem instead to suggest G minor (ii) as the local harmony. This lends further
support to the interpretation that the chord in measures 21-22 is ii over a tonic pedal. 89
In terms of formal design, the "main theme,,9o of the finale includes the Allegro's
initial four-bar "Es muss sein!" statement plus the two sentences based on the retrograde
inversion of the motto. As main themes go, this one is atypical in that it has a looser
harmonic focus than one would expect. Two factors are chiefly responsible for
obscuring the main theme's tonal structure: (1) the nearly ubiquitous appearance of an F
pedal point, which blurs our sense of a local bass-line progression, and (2) the integration
of a chromatic H into the melody, which shifts the tonal emphasis momentarily to Bb
890r possibly viio~ (as in Beethoven's sketch), but certainly not tonic.
90In this study, I adopt the nomenclature of musical form used in Caplin's Classical Form.
46
(IV).91 Of course, Eb's prominence is not surprising if we accept that the pitch somehow
represents the "Es" ofthe movement's epigraph, as Reynolds suggests.
Beethoven's transition (mm. 33--44) is notable for where it goes and how it gets
there. The bulk of the transition does not "transition" at all, but instead prolongs the
tonic harmony (F) as the outer voices move diatonically in contrary motion. Only at the
last moment (m. 41) does Beethoven pull a maneuver that takes us to V of the new key,
which happens to be a distant key at that. The subordinate key area that the transition
prepares is A major, or m~, and though it is far from being the customary dominant, the
technique Beethoven uses to get there is so graceful that many listeners will never detect
that the modulation is chromatic. In Schenkerian terms, Beethoven reestablishes the
primary tone, C (5), in measure 36 (see Appendix A). C remains conceptually active as
the structural soprano (even though other notes intervene) until measure 41, at which
time it ascends stepwise to D, creating a 5-6 motion above the bass, F. Through this 5-6
motion, Beethoven is able to transform the tonic triad (F) into a minor ~ chord (Dm/F),
which can then resolve to V ofm~ (E) in the manner of a Phrygian half cadence.92
Before the A-major subordinate theme takes shape, Beethoven gives it a short
introduction (mm. 45-52) based on the same embellished RI of the "Es muss sein!"
pattern that we heard in the main theme. The introduction here shares other
91Recall that Beethoven emphasized the subdominant similarly at the very beginning ofthe Grave
section (see mm. 3-5). The difference, however, is that tonal uncertainty is a common quality of slow
introductions.
92In other words, I becomes vi 6, which is reinterpreted as iv 6 in A. Aldwell and Schachter
discuss a similar modulation in the first movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata (op. 53), except that
there the composer transforms the original tonic into an augmented-sixth chord before leading to V oflIn.
In the Waldstein, the motion above the tonic bass is 5-6-#6. See Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter,
Harmony & Voice Leading, 3d ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning, 2003), 605-606.
47
characteristics with the main theme as well: (1) it is a sentence, (2) there is a tonic pedal
sustained in the cello, (3) the appearance on'? in the second measure creates a V 7 lTV,
and (4) the motive is presented in canonic imitation at the distance of one measure,
although this time with the first violin leading while the second violin and viola follow
together in sixths and thirds. Besides the imitation occurring at intervals other than the
octave, the main difference is that the motive is sequenced upward instead of down by
step.
When the subordinate theme does finally break through in the cello (m. 53), we
notice at once that it could hardly be more different from its main theme counterpart.
Whereas the main theme is harmonically complex and ambiguous and enriched with
motivic transformations and imitative counterpoint, the subordinate theme is a simple
pentatonic-"folk tune" with an amusing calliope-style accompaniment on tonic and
dominant. Such qualities reverse the conventional relationship between main theme and
subordinate theme in a sonata-form movement, since generally it is the main theme that
is the more "tightly knit" of the twO. 93 Despite its simplicity, the A-major theme does
exhibit some peculiar structural characteristics. For one thing, its melodic structure
outlines a sequence of interruptions (2 II) in the subordinate key (measures 56 & 64), yet
the theme itself never resolves them. To put it another way, the subordinate theme never
comes to rest on i, which, for all the theme's harmonic stability, is a fascinating quirk.
The theme does eventually receive some degree of harmonic closure with an obscured
authentic cadence in measure 68 (over an E pedal); overall the theme's phrase structure,
93As Caplin observes, "Subordinate themes are usually constructed out of the intrathematic
functions associated with tight-knit main themes, albeit in a significantly looser manner." See Classical
Form, 97.
48
then, can be understood as a sixteen-measure double period (mm. 53-68), as illustrated in
Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3. Double-period Structure of Beethoven's Subordinate Theme, mm. 53-68.
Antecedent
53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68
I y7 I y7 I y7 I ~ y9 I
In the closing section of the exposition (mm. 69-80), Beethoven ultimately
resolves the pent-up tension that has accumulated from the folk melody's non-resolution
to i. Here, the "Es muss sein!" motto reappears and finds itself being tossed between the
inner and outer pairs of voices in imitation as the exposition comes to a fitting end. The
bulk of the closing section (mm. 72-80), like the main theme, is a sentence form, and in
terms of voice-leading structure, it effects closure by replicating the Ursafz in lIn (A
major; see Appendix A).
The Development Section Cmm. 81-160)
Beethoven's fixation on the "Es muss sein!" motto intensifies in the development
section. At the pick-up to measure 83 (second ending), all four instruments take hold of
the theme and present it as a dramatic modulatory sequence in octaves. The underlying
harmonic-contrapuntal structure of this remarkable passage is given in Appendix A (mm.
82-88). As we can see, the harmonic role of the sequence is to move away from the
previous key, A major (rn~), by briefly tonicizing the dominant (C) through the
progression vi-V7 -1 in that key. What follows (mm. 88-100) is a contrapuntal tour de
49
force as Beethoven combines in double counterpoint his original "Es muss sein!" motto
with the now familiar retrograde-inversion theme. The double (or "invertible")
counterpoint can be seen at level a of the voice leading-sketch in Appendix A, however
that analysis also includes other significant voices. Example 2.6 therefore offers a
stripped-down version in which Beethoven's invertible counterpoint can be recognized
more readily.94 The combination of these two motives operates within the framework of
a harmonic sequence that fleetingly tonicizes the following tonal areas: C major (V),
Example 2.6. "Stripped-down" Foreground Sketch ofOp. 135, iv, mm. 88-100.
I I
rj~~--: ~~.~'- ~ ,~)
b-.
, tJ
I
.... ,I, k"> . "i ."
.'" P"
__---'l.v'-="==:::::;v~=='--_--.Ul) ......J I(~ Am: vI=l
V iii
.,.
_________. r~_~! ..~. -r ''oJ
i) I ~ F: V j (I)' 1 I
,-----,1 = "Es muss sein!" !--------: = RI of"Es muss sein!"
A minor (iii), F major (1), and D minor (vi). As we can see, this series falls into a pattern
of descending thirds, which, in all likelihood, is a reflection (literally!) of the tonal
relationship between the exposition's main and subordinate themes. Example 2.7 offers
a high-middleground synopsis of the development up to this point (m. 102). Here, the
pitch registers have been normalized to show more clearly the linear intervallic pattern
that underlies Beethoven's sequence.
94Recall that "Es muss sein!" and its retrograde inversion have the same descending-third
middleground skeleton (see Figure 2.1). Because of this, the RI motive plays an imitative role at the
middleground level, and it is therefore symbolized with smaller notes in Appendix A (mm. 89-99).
50
Example 2.7. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp, 135, iv, mm. 83-102.
viiiiv
DEVELOPMENT(EXPO)
5
LIm
I
,...-
-
,....
.--
-
_ {OJ} [8~ {9i} {951 {99} {i02l
fI I
----
~I- I
u .
)0--)0 10--)0
:
1-'1 "- V~'r I '------ I~ r·--.--/ I~ I
-
1
While Beethoven's passage in double counterpoint is certainly complex, we as
listeners are guided through the contrapuntal maze by an unbroken chain of "Es muss
sein!" statements. Once the passage turns toward D minor (m. 101), however, the motive
breaks down as its double statements become compressed and its melodic intervals begin
to change. The circled segments in Example 2.8 below highlight the fragmented "Es
muss sein!" motive, which is passed from the second violin to the viola and then finally
to the cello, where its characteristic intervals are "liquidated" to the point of becoming a
stock cadential bass line. As the voice-leading sketch in Appendix A illustrates, the
Example 2.8. Breaking Down of the "Es muss sein!" Motive in Op. 135, iv, mm. 100--109.
iOO ~ t.~ ~ ~",d·~.~", -;-
.-----------------
~
oJ P PI'
I
p
~ ~r------.
oJ l' oj
--
R· I - p
, PI' --j
---
I-i---. r I
i l .J PI' ~..~1--'" : .---!~- ~
I
p
-l- h. r----- I h. -
----- .:
~ lPI' :J
51
cadential bass line supports a descending fifth-progression in the structural soprano,
which produces a replication of the Ursatz in D minor (vi) (see mm. 105-109).
The cadential arrival in measure 109 also happens to be the starting point of a
new phrase. Here, Beethoven elides the two phrases so that the D minor chord we expect
at the cadence gets "covered" by the D major chord that begins a new statement of the
subordinate theme.95 As far as deep voice-leading structure goes, all of the
development's music in the key ofD helps support a prolonged neighbor note D (6) in
the upper voice (see Appendix A, mm. 109-124).
With the addition of Cq, the development's prolonged D major harmony (VB)
transforms into V 7 of Gm (ii) in measures 124-132. Here, the Rl of the "Es muss sein!"
theme is stated prominently in the cello (mm. 125-128) and then is repeated in the first
violin (mm. 129-132). Against the first violin's statement of the theme, the viola gets
involved by playing the Rl theme in contrary motion,96 and then (beginning at the pick-
up to measure 132), the second violin and cello each play the "tail" of the motive (i.e.,
Cq-BI.--A-G-A-B~) in canonic imitation. The harmonic motion to G minor initiates the
first of a series of passages that all lead to a half cadence on the structural dominant (C).
A high-middleground synopsis of these passages is provided in Example 2.9. Here, as
well as in Appendix A, we can see that the two phrases in question (mm. 132-142 and
95Not surprisingly, the theme is subjected to a few alterations here in the development. Most
notable among them are (1) its harmonic framework is enriched with embellishing chords, (2) it is an eight-
bar period (rather than a double period), but now with an eight-bar extension based on its consequent
phrase, and (3) the extension features canonic imitation at the octave between the cello and first violin (one
measure apart; see mm. 116-124),
96This, of course, is an embellished retrograde transformation of the original "Es muss sein!"
motto.
52
Example 2.9. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp, 135, iv, mm. 109-160 [End of Development].
(;
')
_----------- 5
---------__-r-
5
-r-
5
--
(J09 1307 (132,1
I
/1421 /1431 [150 Iii0l
-- '"
10-10-10-10-10 CW) II
~ • .' I. .~j I
-lfi-
t.!
---#e
I -----~--~~------ I
ii ICV~) v
--
_--Y~_ • _~_
! , ,
;0-10-10-10-10 (3:;-_..:;2) II
--,.qL ------J--
I"~'~
j6 J
V~=l II
mm. 143-150) are variations of each other. Consider that each of the phrases consists of
three structural descending lines. When we compare them, we find that the bass voice of
the first phrase (without the initial G) comes back as the middle voice of the second
phrase. Similarly, the first phrase's top voice (without the initial Bb) comes back as the
bass voice of the second phrase. Finally, the middle voice of the first phrase shows the
same C-Bb-Ab descent as the second phrase's top voice. Once again, we witness
Beethoven demonstrating his prowess with invertible counterpoint. Another notable
connection between these two phrases is that the cello's four-note motive in measures
134-138 returns in the first violin part in measures 143-146.97 Finally, a more general
characteristic of these two phrases worth paying attention to is that the presence of
additional flats darkens the tonality toward F minor as the end of the development draws
near. It becomes clear that Beethoven does this so that he can convincingly incorporate
material from his Grave introduction into the next section, the recapitulation.
97The motive comes originally from the exposition's main theme (see m. 22). We can also see
Beethoven experimenting with the motive in his sketches, where he tries it out contrapuntally against the
"Es muss sein!" motto (see Manuscript 66, group 9, folios 2r and 2v).
53
The Recapitulation (mm. 161-243)
Formal boundaries are obscured (with sustained pitches and a repetition of the
dominant harmony) as Beethoven's retransition (mm. 155-160) flows seamlessly into the
recapitulation of the "Muss es sein?" Grave theme. The return of the theme, with its new
unrelenting tremolo accompaniment, appears less mysterious and more menacing than it
did at the beginning of the movement. Other changes include the sustained y9 resolving
deceptively to VI (D~) on the last quarter note of measure 169, which initiates another
remarkable sequential passage (mm. 169-172). Here, Beethoven brings a chromaticized
version of "Es muss sein!" into the world of the Grave as the violins play the motive in
octaves against "Muss es sein?" (with expanded intervals) in the cello and viola. The
puzzling surface-level chord progression (suggested at level a of Appendix A, mm.
170-172) is the result of an ascending linear intervallic pattern whose job it is to connect
the initial D~ chord with the concluding C9 (i.e., VI-y9) (see Appendix A, levels band
c).
Perhaps the most significant revision in the recapitulated Grave lies in its deep
voice-leading structure. No longer separated from the Allegro by a half cadence and
melodic interruption on 2, the Grave's voice leading now connects to the succeeding
Allegro. Again, Beethoven seems to be opting for a more seamless aesthetic between the
formal sections here at the end of the finale. The fact that such an emotionally charged
introduction now flows right into the bouncy Allegro seems to enhance the tongue-in-
cheek quality of Beethoven's "serious" music; after all, how serious can he really be
when he is willing to swap fervor for gaiety in the space of one measure?
54
For the return of the Allegro (m. 174), Beethoven redesigns his main theme. We
can think of the new version dividing into two halves, with the first part, the "head,"
being a compressed double statement of the "Es muss sein!" motive, and the second part
being a cadential "tail" (see Example 2.10). In terms of its voice-leading structure, the
theme still consists of a series of unfolded thirds, but the upper voice of the compound
melody contains a descending fifth progression (C-B~A-G-F) (see Appendix A,
174-177).
Example 2.10. Redesigned "Main Theme" of the Recapitulation.
"Head" "Tail"I I Jr, ---"=------------,1
i~(~~I~~ . . .
Once the main theme has been heard in full, Beethoven splits it in half and sets
the head motive against the tail contrapuntally. These vertical combinations are shown
on the score in Example 2.11. Tonally speaking, the phrase in mm. 178-187 is rather
unstable as the motives are transferred from key to key in a way that is more reminiscent
of passages in the development section (cf. mm. 88-100 or mm. 100-109) than those in
the exposition. One detail of the exposition's harmonic scheme that is reflected here,
however, is the emphasis on IV (Bb). Given that Beethoven's transition is in that key
(see mm. 188), the passage in Example 2.11 functions more like a transition to the
transition.
Recall that the original transition was, for the most part, a progression that
prolonged the tonic (F major). Only at the last moment, did Beethoven maneuver the
55
Example 2.11. Main Theme's "Head" and "Tail" Combined Contrapuntally in Gp. 135, iv, mm. 178-187.
t f )
'----- ------------------ ---------- ,,---- 7iijjjjer-voic~i------- ------------'\
, ,
0) ~:--~ l"'~_+_'if'------__+if"--------/J', ~ ~ ~ ) (: . _
~_ , r
.~-~- f . l'----+-'_'.f -+-if__----/) :, ~ ~ ~ ,
l if
IB]
F'-4-.-----c-
)if if if
if~ if- ">----sf
-~
-------
-------if if if
sf':' l
'-----j-'------+------t--"------+-'----'
,
----------------- ,)
,,---- --------------- ---------------- ..,
if J!I' q"'------..-.' ~~ ~ -J* ~: q~
--'----' ! if sf J
'- - -- ---------------------------------"
-
if
o = Head :------1 = Tail, ,
,,----_ ..
phrase to end with a half cadence on V of III#. Since the transition here has essentially
the same harmonic-contrapuntal structure as it did in the exposition, the Bb beginning
will naturally pave the way for its chromatic mediant, D major. 98 D major is indeed
confirmed in measures 200-207, where Beethoven brings back the introduction to the
subordinate theme in that key. And, as before, the music here contains canonic entries
based on RI of"Es muss sein!" The symbolic importance ofD major, which is the
98 Beethoven once again uses the 5-6 technique to prepare the modulation. First, he changes the
local tonic, Bi,-D-F, to Bb-D-G. Then, he interprets that chord (Gm/m) as the first member of a
Phrygian half cadence (i.e., iv 6 ) that resolves to A (V) in the key ofD major.
56
chromatic submediant (VU) of the home key, is that it acts as a counterbalance against
the prior motion to the chromatic mediant, A major (m~) in the exposition.99
The tonal digression to D major does not last long, however, and before the
subordinate theme itself has a chance to materialize, Beethoven launches into a brand
new introduction to the subordinate theme, this time in the expected home key (F major)
(mm.208-2l6). Seeing this short introduction in the tonic major makes it easy to
recognize the extensive similarities between this phrase and the exposition's main theme,
particularly as it appears in measures 25-32. In both locations we find the following
elements: (1) canonic imitation on the RI motive at the octave following at the distance
of one measure, (2) a tonic pedal in the cello, and (3) an underlying harmonic
progression that reads I-V7 /N-N-ii-{V7 or V~=~}-I. The main difference,
ignoring variations in register and scoring, has to do with each phrase's sentence
structure. Although not without its peculiarities (see pp. 44--45 above), the sentence in
measures 25-32 demonstrates the conventional eight-bar length. The sentence in
measures 208-216, on the other hand, is extended to nine measures by an extra bar of V7
at measure 215. Surely, the brief extension has to do with the different function that the
phrase carries here. As a short introduction to the subordinate theme, the sentence must
connect to the theme, and not be separate from it. Beethoven's way of forging this
connection is to extend the penultimate harmony so the final chord of the introduction
overlaps the beginning of the subordinate theme in measure 216.
99Balancing the chromatic mediant in the exposition with the chromatic submediant in the
recapitulation is certainly not an unprecedented practice. Beethoven does the very same thing in the first
movement of the "Waldstein" Sonata (op. 53), where the exposition's modulation from C major (I) to E
major (lIn) is answered in the recapitulation where the subordinate theme touches upon A major (VB) (see
mm.196-199).
57
The appearance of the subordinate theme in the home tonic, in addition to
reconciling the tonal and thematic conflict generated in the exposition, also reestablishes
the primary tone C (5) in the structural upper voice (see m. 217). As others have
commented, the music here represents the first truly stable, unhindered expression ofF
major in the entire movement. lOO Perhaps this might be why the consequent phrases of
Beethoven's folk theme are supported only by a stationary tonic harmony (see mm.
220-223 and mm. 228-231).
Since the closing section (mm. 236-243) is more or less a straight transposition
of the music that ended the exposition, it need not be discussed any further here. Instead,
the voice-leading sketch in Appendix A should be sufficient to communicate how the
various "Es muss sein!" iterations at the end of the movement fit within the harmonic-
contrapuntal framework ofthe Ursatz to effect a structural close.
The Coda (mm. 244-277)
Given the extensive influence of the epigraph's question and answer on so many
aspects of the finale, it seems only fitting that Beethoven's coda would raise one final
musical question before the movement, and the work as a whole, comes to a close. In a
very brief six-bar passage that Leonard Ratner calls "the most pathetic moment in the
entire quartet,,,IOI Beethoven dares to challenge the optimism and ambition conveyed so
confidently by the preceding structural cadence. Specifically, he presents three echoed
100See Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 276-277.
101 Leonard G. Ratner, The Beethoven String Quartets: Compositional Strategies and Rhetoric
(Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Bookstore, 1995),306. And by "pathetic," Ratner means "poignant," not
"pitiful."
-------------_._-- ._-_ ... _.__._---------
58
"Es muss sein!" statements that are so unsure of themselves tonally and rhythmically that
they begin to take on the essence of a question.
The analysis of measures 244-249 given in Appendix A helps clarify the
underlying harmonies and voice leading in this passage, which is somewhat challenging
due to the shifting of registers within each strand of the voice leading. Levels band c of
the voice-leading graph gradually normalize each voice's register until it becomes
evident that there are three basic sonorities represented: AIC#, D, and B [becoming
Bm]. While the harmonic logic of the progression could be understood as, say,
Gm: V6 IV-V-VI-vi(b), the context of Beethoven's quartet does not support such a
reading. If, on the other hand, we consider the chords as representing key areas, then A
makes sense as symbolizing the key of the subordinate theme (III#) and D makes sense as
the counterbalancing key area (VI#) that Beethoven tonicizes in both the development and
recapitulation. Finally, we are left to interpret the curious pair ofH chords, whose pitch
name, as we are now well aware, corresponds to the German "Es" of the finale's
epigraph. The fact that there are two "Es" chords (one major and one minor) in measure
248 may be intended to represent the dichotomy associated with Beethoven's question
and its response.
The questioning nature of these first measures in the coda is also manifested
structurally in the soprano voice, which goes "3-2-b2 II." Even though neither second
scale degree is harmonized by the customary dominant, the fact that the line cuts off so
abruptly certainly suggests a melodic interruption, which is often recognized as denoting
a musical question (as is the case in most antecedent phrases, for example).
59
Ratner describes what happens next in the coda as follows: "Quickly, the
poignant mood is shaken off with the most playful texture of in the movement, all voices
pizzicato, as the violin carries the tune.,,102 The "tune" to which Ratner is referring is the
pentatonic subordinate theme, which can be heard in measures 250-265. In the final
flourish of the quartet, however, Beethoven reaffirms the preeminence of his "Es muss
sein!" motto, by fashioning a long motivic chain out of the theme and using it to retrace
the Urlinie three times over at the end of the piece (mm. 266-277).
102Ibid.
60
CHAPTER III
BEGINNING "WITH A FORETASTE OF ITS CONCLUSION":
OPUS 135, FIRST MOVEMENT
Now that we have experienced Beethoven's motto themes in their purest forms
given in the finale (and have analyzed them within their appropriate harmonic-
contrapuntal contexts in a Schenkerian sense), we can use this as a point of reference for
assessing the thematic material that shapes the earlier movements. Both Reti and
Reynolds have emphasized motivic associations between the quartet's first and last
movements in particular. Reti, for instance, observes a long-range progression in which
the "somber opening motif' of the first movement (mm. 1-2) is transfigured to become
the "serene theme [i.e., "subordinate" theme] of the Finale."I03 For Reynolds, op. 135
represents a "Beethovenian Kreis" where "motives presented at the outset of the first
movement return transformed in the last."lo4 Let us consider, then, while also
considering the movement's harmonic-contrapuntal background, the extent to which
Beethoven's themes and motives cause the quartet to begin, as Reynolds says, "with a
foretaste of its conclusion.,,105
103Reti, 217. This development from embryonic mati/to fully-fledged theme, however, breaks
down once we consider each passage's harmonic-contrapuntal framework.
104Reynolds,160. In Chapter I (pp. 13-14), I discuss how Reynolds identifies the quartet's
opening gesture with the "Es muss sein!" theme of the finale.
105Ibid.
61
The Exposition (mm. 1-62)
Each of the theorists concerned principally with motivic transformation in
op. 135-namely Reti, Cooke, and Reynolds-in one way or another to links the
quartet's opening gesture to the finale's "Es muss sein!" motto. Reti and Cooke
(following Reti's lead), however, operate outside the boundaries of a Schenkerian tonal
framework. Consider Reti's illustration (see Example 3.1):
Example 3.1. Reti's Comparison ofOp. 135's opening Gesture and the "Es muss sein!" Motto. 106
Es muss sein!
Here, Reti takes a portion of the opening gesture (omitting the concluding G and E) and
matches it to a portion of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" motto (the second statement of
the pair). The two extracts contain the same pitches (G, Bb, and F), to be sure, and there
is something to be said for this, but surely we must also consider each musical idea in its
entirety before we can rightfully declare a kinship between them. Fortunately, this is the
approach Reynolds takes. Unlike Reti and Cooke, Reynolds compares the quartet's
opening gesture and the "Es muss sein!" motto in full (see Example 3.2):
Example 3.2. Reynolds's Comparison ofOp. 135's opening Gesture and the "Es muss sein!" Motto,107
b b bI~ I ~rl-------" Ir--------,
~BI!i~-4 §~-~£~~ ~
* * * ,---I*,-- * :=::tt=-'-----__----'-J*1
I I X
x
I06See Reti, 216 (Ex. 340).
107See Reynolds, 181 (Ex. 2a) and 180 (Ex. 1)
62
What connects the two musical ideas in this example now points to something deeper
than the fact that they both have a G-B/'-F segment (which Reynolds does acknowledge
and labels motive "bOO). The more significant correspondence is that the opening gesture
and the "Es muss sein!" double-statement each contain a stepwise descending third
(labeled motive "x" and marked with asterisks) as an underlying middleground pattern
going from beginning to end. 108
Appendix B provides a voice-leading sketch of the first movement. In measures
1-2, at level a, notice the opening gesture's underlying stepwise third (G-F-E), which is
marked with downward stems. Here, the middle note, F, acts as a passing tone between
two members of the prolonged V7 harmony (see level b). F's lower structural status
gives us a reason to question Reti's analysis. As we saw in Example 3.1, Reti treats F as
an endpoint, presumably because doing so will make the opening gesture resemble the
second statement of"Es muss sein!" But in terms of the harmonic structure, F is a
diminution that leads to the true endpoint, E, which Reti cuts. Reti's motivic connection,
then, does not hold up according to the music's harmonic-contrapuntal hierarchy as
defined by its voice-leading graph.
In measures 3-4, Beethoven presents a slightly fuller repetition of his opening
gesture, and together the two statements (mm. 1-4) serve as a thematic introduction to
the sonata movement's main theme group. 109 Though brief, the thematic introduction
108The chief difference between the two segments, of course, is that the descending third in the
opening gesture (i.e., 2-1-7) prolongs V, whereas the descending bass in "Es muss sein!" (i.e., 3-2-1)
prolongs I.
109As Caplin explains, thematic introductions are generally short passages that prolong a single
harmony (tonic or dominant) and create a sense of anticipation for the main theme's arrival. See Classical
63
establishes a very significant motive, and it also offers us a "foretaste" of things to come,
namely, the expansive Grave introduction in the finale. Like the Grave, the first
movement's thematic introduction presents its short motive in the same low register of
the viola (supported by the cello), which is then commented upon by the upper strings.
The little intro also implies that the first movement's tonality will be F minor on account
of its Dlr-C cello motive, which is the same motive that turns up so conspicuously when
the Grave is recapitulated in the finale (see mm. 166-167).110
In short, the motive of the thematic introduction certainly appears to be connected
to the motto themes of the finale, however, a notable difference is that it does not project
a series of unfolded parallel thirds at the middleground level like its counterparts in the
finale do. So, while the first movement's opening gesture does involve a descending
third progression (G-F-E), it does not possess a similarly descending upper strand in its
voice leading. Instead, its "upper voice" consists of the lone B~ chordal seventh that is
prolonged through the introduction and does not resolve until the main theme's tonic
arrives in measures 5-6 (see the analysis in Appendix B). On a deeper middleground
level, however, this resolution of the thematic introduction into the main theme's tonic
does involve a pair of unfolding thirds (Blr-G resolving to F-A; see measures 1-6, levels
Form, 15. Curiously, Jonathan Kramer and Kathryn Bumpass both refer to measures 1--4 as an
"antecedent" phrase whose consequent follows in measures 5-10; see Jonathan D. Kramer, The Time of
Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies (New York: Schirmer, 1988), 125,
and Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 77. These two authors clearly have a different conception of
"phrase" from mine. Here, I adopt Rothstein's definition that a phrase in tonal music is "a directed motion
in time from one tonal entity to another; these may be harmonies, melodic tones ... or some combination
of the two" (see Rothstein Phrase Rhythm, 5). By this definition, the dominant prolongation in measures
1--4 cannot be considered a phrase because there is no tonal motion.
!lOWe find the DI.-C cello motive in the recapitulation of the first movement as well, where the
motive is emphasized and expanded and with continuous triplets in measures 101-102.
64
b and c). Significantly, this scale-degree pattern (4-2 resolving to 1-3) anticipates the
second half of the retrograde-inversion form of "Es muss sein!" that figures so
prominently in the finale (see mm. 19-20 ofthe finale for its first appearance).
In measures 5-10, Beethoven introduces the decidedly easygoing first theme of
his main theme group. As listeners will undoubtedly notice, the most immediately
striking feature of the theme is the way its motivic segments are displaced among the
registers of viola and the violins. Bumpass refers to this as a "mosaic technique" of
presentation, which is notable because it introduces an "exaggerated discontinuity" into
the "otherwise innocent" phrase; this discontinuity, she argues, is a sign of Beethoven's
"preoccupation with extreme contrasts" in his late quartets. I I I If we agree with this
assessment (which I do), then we can also argue that the theme's discontinuity
foreshadows the extraordinary polar contrasts that characterize the finale's epigraph
motives and their associated Grave and Allegro sections.
Thus far in this study, I have focused a great deal of attention on the fact that the
double statement of Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" motive unfolds two voices of a
compound melody in parallel thirds (which are illustrated in Example 2.4). Given the
emerging pattern of motivic concordances in this quartet, it is not surprising then that
Beethoven's main theme should similarly project a series of parallel thirds. If we
examine the theme's beginning (mm. 5-6), we find that we do have a series of
arpeggiated thirds, although here they are ascending rather than descending (see
Appendix B, mm. 5-6, levels a and b). While the graph does not use the unfolding
IIIBumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 77 & 91.
65
symbol to illustrate these ascending thirds (F-A, G-Bb, A-C), the voice-leading pattern
is clear enough at level b. Figure 3.1 uses scale-degree numbers to symbolize this
interval pattern and to show its close relation to the "Es muss sein!" model:
Figure 3.1. Relation between Gp. 135, i, Main Theme (mm. 5-6) and "Es muss sein!"
Main Theme, mm. 5-6 "Es muss sein!"
Compared with "Es muss sein!" the first-movement theme preserves the order of the
scale degrees within each individual third, but reverses the order among each set of
thirds. So, while the scale-degree arrangement within each third prohibits the first-
movement theme from corresponding to any of the standard motivic transformations at
the surface level of the music, the theme is, in a more abstract sense, a "middleground
retrograde" of Beethoven's motto. 112
Besides its registral displacement, another peculiar aspect of Beethoven's main
theme in measures 5-10 is that the accompanying bass line avoids sounding a downbeat
tonic until the very end of the phrase (m. 10). The suppression of the supporting bass, as
Jonathan Kramer explains, creates a certain degree of tension because "each time [the
phrase] arrives on the tonic, some factor subverts the expected stability, so that it is only
with the strong cadence in m. 10 that we feel full root-position accented tonic
112Incidentally, the reason I do not emphasize the upper thirds A and mby stemming them in my
voice-leading graph is because of their short durations and weak metrical positions (see Appendix B, m. 5,
level a and b). Conversely, the theme's lower stepwise line (F-G-A) seems primary because of its
durational and metrical emphasis, and also because it participates in a voice exchange with the bass in
measures 5-6.
66
resolution.,,113 Other bass notes, besides the tonic degree, appear to be missing in this
passage as well. For instance, from the last eighth-note of measure 6 to the downbeat of
measure 7, the viola line (F-E-D IC) is unaccompanied. We can infer, however, that the
implied harmonic progression is IV-!(6), and when the same material repeats in
measures 8-9, Beethoven confirms our intuition by supplying the "missing" B~ bass
note. 114
In measure 8, Beethoven provides neither a bass note nor a melodic resolution to
1(F) on the downbeat, but his purpose here is clear: he is evading the cadence so that he
can repeat his cadential material and bring about a more decisive close (with the melody
trebled in the viola and violins) in measures 8-10. 115 Kramer has made mUGh of the fact
that Beethoven's cadence in measure 10 feels too final to appear so early in the piece,
and therefore it represents a conflict between "gestural time" and "absolute time.,,1 16 In
his view, the movement is concerned with unfolding a long-range developmental process
of "progressively increasing regularity, continuity, and agreement between gesture and
function." 117
113Kramer, Time ofMusic, 125.
114Never, though, does he give us the bass note that would follow m (see mm. 7, 9, 106. 108, 190,
and 192), but considering the rest ofthe surrounding bass line, it seems most appropriate to imply A as the
bass (making the implied harmony 16).
115Notice in Appendix B that this first phrase ofthe main theme group (mm. 5-10) contains within
itself two nested replications ofthe Ursatz.
116See Jonathan D. Kramer "Multiple and Non-Linear Time in Beethoven's Opus 135,"
Perspectives ofNew Music 11/2 (1973): 122-145; and The Time ofMusic (New Yark: Schirmer, 1988),
chapters 5-6; and "Postmodern Concepts of Musical Time," Indiana Theof)' Review 17/2 (1996): 21-61.
See also Judy Lochhead, "The Temporal in Beethoven's Opus 135: When Are Ends Beginnings?" In
Theory Only 4/7 (1979): 3~30.
117Kramer, Time ofMusic, 135.
67
I think most listeners would agree with Kramer that the movement is
discontinuous at its beginning. The exposition, he notes, sounds rather like a succession
of independent thematic blocks whose textures are remarkably diverse. 118 This is
certainly the case when we hear the entrance of the new quarter-note theme in measure
10 after the (too) strong cadence. The distinctively disjunct theme is but a four-note
motive played in octaves, which is then sequenced up by step (mm. 10-14). Joseph
Kerman nicknames it the "cantus-flrmus theme," but I prefer Bumpass's choice of
"subject" since it gets treated fugally later on. ll9 In its unaccompanied form, the subject
might appear at first to be harmonically ambiguous, and its structure is certainly
elusive. l2O But once we recognize its voice-leading pattern, the subject's underlying
harmonies start to reveal themselves. Let us begin by taking a cue from Beethoven's
preceding theme (mm. 5-10). The technique of registral displacement is, without a
doubt, the special ingredient here. If we look at the quarter-note subject in this same
light, it starts to make sense that its wide leaps are similarly the product of such
displacement. The voice-leading sketch in Appendix B shows the subject with its
register normalized (see mm. 10-14, level b). Level c of the sketch normalizes the
rhythmic displacement of the theme, and we can now see in the upper staff a series of
three descending parallel thirds (A-C; G-Bb; F-A) accompanied by a less structural
covering progression (C-D-E-F) in the highest register. At this point it may be patently
118Ibid., 124.
119Kerman, 355; Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 78.
120In Chapter I, I detail how Reti's, Cooke's, and Reynolds's analyses of the subject are each in
conflict with the theme's harmonic-contrapuntal structure suggested by my Schenkerian graph (see pp. 5-9
and 16-17).
68
apparent that, covering progression aside, the descending thirds revealed at level c
demonstrate the same voice-leading pattern that underlies the "Es muss sein!" double
statement. l21 Figure 3.2 uses scale-degree numbers to compare the descending thirds of
the quarter-note subject with those of the motto theme:
Figure 3.2. Descending Thirds ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Subject (mm. 10-14) and "Es muss sein!"
J Subject, mm. 10-14 "Es muss sein!"
:3
f
Once again, the particular ordering of the thirds within each pair does not allow us to
name them with any of the standard motivic transformations of "Es muss sein!" at the
surface level, however the subject is a more abstract transformation of the motto because
it possesses the same middleground voice-leading structure.
Before moving on to the remainder of the exposition, there is one other aspect of
the quarter-note subject worthy of our attention. As Kramer suggests, the theme's starkly
contrasting texture is one of a few techniques that Beethoven uses to create discontinuity
at the beginning of the movement. Just as disruptive, however, is the theme's temporal
nature. Clearly the subject's unvarying rhythm is a significant change from what
preceded it, but its metrical setting is also a source of interruption and confusion.
Although the subject, as notated, begins on the weak beat, it has qualities that make it
sound as if it begins on the downbeat. Specifically, the slurs and decrescendo markings
for each quarter note pair emphasize the notated weak beats while they deemphasize the
121Notice too that the quarter-note subject is also built upon a sequential double statement. This
detail corroborates its connection to the "Es muss seinl" motto.
69
notated strong beats. Moreover, the beginnings of the four-note sequential motive cause
the greatest accents to fall on the notated weak beats of measures 10 and 12. Finally, any
sensitive performing ensemble will surely take a little breathing space after the strong
cadence in measure 10, which, combined with the aforementioned compositional
elements, will undoubtedly support our experience of the new theme as starting on the
downbeat. The consequence of our metrical reinterpretation is that we are likely to lose
our metrical bearings when the music shifts back to the notated meter in measures 15-17.
More specifically, our sense of the meter will be suspended briefly in measures 15-16
until Beethoven brings us out of the confusion with a clear downbeat arrival in measure
17. To contrast the metrical discontinuity of Beethoven's phrase, Example 3.3 offers a
recomposed version of the subject with its metrical disturbances eliminated. l22
Example 3.3. Recomposition ofOp. 135, i, Quarter-note Subject.
fI I ~~, . ~~,. ~
tJ ..
-- === e:::::=::::=- ::::=- :::=-- :::=--
fI
cresco - - - --
-
tJ ~ ~ 71 ~ ~-d~_ 1---71 ~-.r -.r -.r ~
'------
'-----' :::::=- cresco - -I ::::==- ~
'-..* '-----' .. -
-6'-____
'..---* -,;
===- ::::=- ::::=- ===- cresco - - -
I
:
"---71 '------ '--* '-----'
--------------
~'
cresco -
The harmony in measure 17 is the dominant (C major), and its emphasis results
from the tonicizing V 7 Iv (mm. 15-16) that approaches it with great momentum owing
122Besides shifting the subject so that it begins on the downbeat, Example 3.3 merely omits the D
minor chord on beat 2 of Beethoven's measure 14.
70
to the repeated chords and the rising scale in the first violin. Indeed, measure 16 has the
feeling of one large upbeat. At this point we might rightfully assume we have reached
the subordinate key, but this proves to be false as the ensuing phrase makes its way back
to the tonic (F) in measure 25.
In any event, the music in measures 17-25 is most unusual for this part of the
sonata form. Although we are approaching the end of the first tonal area, the phrase has
the volatile quality of a transition. It is harmonically unstable, motivically fragmented,
and metrically ambiguous. The only relatively stable detail of the phrase is its imperfect
authentic cadence that is elided with the beginning of the transition in measure 25.
Ironically, the transition sounds like the more stable theme, and so it appears that
Beethoven has reversed the aesthetic qualities of the foregoing passages. Even as the
transition is destabilizing the home key, it sounds very thematic (see mm. 31-37). The
most conventional way for a transition to finish is with a half-cadence in the subordinate
key. The dominant at the end of Beethoven's transition, however, does not constitute an
arrival because it resolves without interruption to the tonic of the first subordinate theme
(see mm. 37-38). This, according to Caplin, is a rare feature. 123
The first subordinate theme begins with a straightforward phrase composed of a
pair of "rocket" motives outlining tonic and dominant (mm. 38-41). Like the main
theme, however, Beethoven presents its constituent motives in different instruments.
The first subordinate theme continues similarly in measure 42, with more tonic and
dominant, before taking a chromatic "transition-like" turn in measures 44-45. Here, the
123See Caplin, 131.
71
phrase progresses into a sequence based on a "10-7" linear intervallic pattern (see
Appendix B, mm. 44-45, especially level b). On the music's surface, the phrase appears
to unravel before being supplanted by a second subordinate theme in measure 46. The
deeper voice-leading levels, however, suggest that there is once again an elision between
the phrases (see Appendix B, mm. 45-46).124
As Kramer observes, the movement seems to get progressively more regular and
more continuous. A contributing factor to this perception is that the music associated
with the subordinate key consistently falls into regular four-bar hypermeasures. Within
this regular hypermetrical framework, however, there continues to be traces of
irregularity due to the frequent elisions between phrases. One such moment occurs in
measure 54, where the beginning of the closing section covers the cadence of the
previous phrase. 125 After a four-bar hypermeasure, the newfound continuity is brought to
a startling halt (at least in terms of tonality) by a deceptive cadence in measure 58 on
V~/ii. Immediately, the motivic idea from the exposition's main theme makes a return,
presumably to bring the section to a close once and for all, but this turns out not to be the
case. The final tonic (in the subordinate key) never materializes, and instead we are left
suspended on the dominant in measure 62. That the exposition could be harmonically
1241 should point out that 1 use the term "elision" here in the sense that Lerdahl and Jackendoff
propose. The concept differs from phrase "overlap" in that it always involves an event from one group
being omitted and "covered" by an event from the adjoining group. See Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff,
A Generative Theory a/Tonal Music (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1983), 58-59.
125Several prominent scholars today consider closing sections to be "post-cadential" material, that
is, they come in q[ter the structural cadence has occurred. While 1generally agree with this view, this
particular exposition is a special case in that it lacks a structural PAC altogether. Therefore, 1feel justified
in labelling this the "closing section" based on the more generic profile of the melodic "passagework" that
takes place here.
72
open-ended is something that is practically unheard of, and it may just be the biggest
surprise of all.
The Development Section (mm. 62-100)
At the beginning of the movement, Beethoven succeeded his good-natured main
theme with a highly contrasting quarter-note subject. In the development, he reverses
this relationship, and it is the subject that takes control first. Here, Beethoven combines
his theme with the quartet's opening motive in a genuinely fugal style. Together, the
contrapuntal ideas interact within a self-contained harmonic block (usually y9-I), and
thus can be easily transported to any tonal area; this attribute proves most handy at the
beginning of a development section, where transient modulations are the norm.
The first set of entries (mm. 62-66) is in G major, which picks up where the
exposition left off. This particular statement is slightly different from the ones yet to
come because the introduction motive appears only over the end of the quarter-note
subject, and not at the beginning as well. In this location, the short motive must be
transposed so that it will end within the local tonic chord; in making the alteration,
Beethoven causes the motive to resemble a version of "Es muss sein!" that leads into the
final cadence of the quartet's last movement (see the first violin part, mm. 274-275).
In the remainder of the contrapuntal pairings, the structures of the subject and the
introduction motive (or "countersubject," as it were) become thoroughly enmeshed at the
beginning. To see how, examine the voice-leading sketch in Appendix B (mm. 66-70,
level a). Here, the quarter-note subject is given in the upper staff, the countersubject is
given in the middle staff, and an accompanying triplet arpeggio is shown in the bass
73
staff. Notice that the beamed structural upper voice (5-4-b3) uses pitches from both the
subject and the countersubject. The addition of the countersubject also requires the
quarter-note subject to be interpreted differently than when it appeared alone. Recall that
in its solo form, the subject's middleground voice-leading structure projected a series of
descending parallel thirds (5-4-3 over 3-2-1; see Figure 3.1). But since the
countersubject clearly prolongs V 7 , whenever the two ideas are combined, the quarter-
note subject must also be interpreted as beginning on the dominant (and not the tonic).
The harmonic reinterpretation of the subject can be accomplished simply by reading its
third note as a passing tone (see Appendix B, m. 67, levels a and b). While reinterpreting
the theme's harmonic structure might, at first, seem questionable to some, in this ease,
the arpeggiated triplets support the reinterpretation by spelling out the underlying
harmonies. As the development moves forth, the various motives begin to swap registers
so that we end up with the kind of invertible counterpoint that Beethoven also uses in the
development section of the finale. And so we have yet another way in which the quartet
begins with a "foretaste of its conclusion."
As the development passes through its various tonal regions, it is fascinating to
see what happens with the structural upper voice. The fugal passage's arrival on Ab (bill)
in measure 74 reestablishes the primary tone, C (5), albeit with an alternative
harmonization, and initiates the broad structural descent of the Urlinie down to 2, which
is the typical maneuver of development sections. From this point forward, we can
witness the composer selecting only those tonal areas that will be conducive to this
structural descent. So when the fugue breaks off suddenly with a jolting chromatic
74
mediant motion from A~ to F7 in measures 78-80, this prepares the way for a false
recapitulation in B~ major (N), a tonal area that supports the descent in the Urlinie to B~
(4) (see Appendix B). After less than four measures, Beethoven aborts his false
recapitulation in the subdominant only to launch another one, this time in the tonic (m.
84-86). In Kramer's view, this places "undue emphasis on the tonic in the 'wrong'
place,,,126 but from a Schenkerian standpoint, the tonic does enable the Urlinie to descend
another step to A (3) (see Appendix B, m. 86). The remaining sequence of keys, A
minor (89-90), D minor (91-92),0 major (93-96), and C major (97-100) involves root
motion by fifth and imitates the tonal progression "iii-vi-VIv-V." As far as their
effect on the fundamental line is concerned, A minor and D minor continue to support 3
(A), while 0 major and C major permit the Urlinie to reach its temporary goal, 2(0).
Reynolds cites the A minor section's upper voice (mrn. 89-90) to show that it
contains his trio of motives, a, b, and x (see Example 3.4). While the pitches that his
Example 3.4. Reynolds's Motives a, b, and x in Op, 135, i, mm. 89_90. 127
b
I a I
~~I· · .,x
motives highlight do fit within the harmonic-contrapuntal structure, other equally
structural pitches are not accounted for. Consider the voice-leading graph of this passage
126Kramer, Time ofMusic, 133.
127See Reynolds, 181 (Ex. 2d). Here, Reynolds's motive "b" is C-E-m. Refer back to Examples
1.9 and 1.10 to see Reynolds's analyses of these motives in the "Es muss sein!" motto and in the first
movement's opening gesture.
75
in Appendix B. Here, we can see that this melodic voice traces a descending fifth-
progression in A minor (E-D-C-B-A) supported by a compound melodic voice a third
lower. I propose that this sequence of unfolded parallel thirds also connects the theme
with Beethoven's "Es muss sein!" motto. Even if Reynolds were to label the C, B, and A
in measure 90 (i.e., the first, fourth, and seventh pitches) as a nested version of his
motive x 128, he would still not account for the structural D in the middle of measure 89.
From the middle of the G major portion of the development (m. 95) through the
end of the C major retransition (m. 101), we find a repeated motive whose unfolded
thirds, as illustrated in Appendix B, clearly resemble the retrograde-inversion theme that,
as we already know, will permeate the fourth movement (see m. 17 ff.). And thus
Beethoven's development ends as it began, with an idea that predicts an essential
ingredient ofthe finale.
The Recapitulation (mm. 101-163)
As Bumpass points out, Beethoven's recapitulation exhibits a formal regularity
that exceeds what we might expect from one of his late sonata-form movements: "All the
motivic cells are recapitulated, and in the order oftheir original appearances.,,129 The
first noticeable variation is that the fugal subject comes back embellished with chromatic
neighbors (or incomplete neighbors in the Schenkerian sense; see Appendix B, mm.
128Reynolds could additionally label the first three pitches in measure 90 as his motive x. In
Schenkerian terms, the first violin line exhibits motivic nesting (or "hidden repetition") at three different
levels.
129Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 81.
76
109-113, level a). Let us return to Reynolds's analysis of this version of the subject. l3O
Example 3.5 shows how Reynolds locates his primary motives by revoicing the registers
of the subject. This is Reynolds's most non-Schenkerian reading. As I argued in
Example 3.5. Reynolds's Analysis after Revoicing Gp. 135, i, mm. 109-113.\31
b b
w~. ~~r.:-l,a- -,------'1
1* * *11* * *1
x x
Chapter I, the B~ and C~ that begin each motivic statement are merely surface
diminutions (i.e., chromatic incomplete neighbors) that embellish the notes they precede.
Each of Reynolds's motives (a, b, and x), however, relies on these "diminutions," and so
his motivic reading is necessarily incongruous with a Schenkerian view of the tonal
structure. A debatable point is when Reynolds insists the eighth-note version of the
subject is the more basic form, and that the quarter-note version is "actually a
simplification ...made by eliminating every other note. ,,132 The proposition certainly
seems unintuitive, however it appears Reynolds has no choice since he cannot get his
motives directly from the quarter-note subject, and must therefore leave it unanalyzed. A
Schenkerian approach, on the other hand, allows us to analyze both the initial quarter-
13°1 discussed it briefly in Chapter I, pp. 16-17.
131 See Reynolds, 181 (Ex. 2f).
132ReynoIds, 181.
77
note subject and its eighth-note variation in the very same way because the two themes
share the same harmonic-contrapuntal skeleton. 133
Another change in the recapitulation is that the eighth-note fugue subject in the
tonic (mm. 109-113) is followed immediately by a new subdominant version of the
theme (mm. 113-117); later, Beethoven employs the same tactic when the subordinate
group is recapitulated in the tonic (see rnrn. 136-143). As we have seen, Beethoven also
exercises this tonic statement-subdominant repetition scheme in a number of places in
the finale. Most notably, he does it the two Grave sections (mm. 1-4 and mm. 161-164),
but he also does it using a fragment of the main theme in measures 178-181. So, once
again we witness just how closely the first and last movements of op. 135 are aligned.
The Coda (mm. 163-193)
As with the exposition, Beethoven decides to end his recapitulation without [!] an
authentic cadence. It is left up to the coda, then, to close the movement's tonal structure.
Because of this unorthodox design, the coda gets promoted from its usual post-cadential
standing to highest structural status. The section begins fugally just like the
development, but its contrapuntal texture soon dissolves into a prolonged "standing on
the dominant" (mm. 172-177). The prolonged V 7 resolves in measure 178 into a repeat
of the movement's closing material, and as the drive toward the final cadence intensifies,
Beethoven is compelled once again to pull back on the reins. He effectively neutralizes
the forward momentum of the phrase with ajolt ofB at the end of measure 181 (where
the first violin's high C is supported by three Bs playedforte in the lower strings).
133Compare mm. 10-14 & 109-113 of Appendix B.
78
Given what we now know about the finale and its epigraph and the apparent attachment
between the German "Es" and the pitch Eb, we can hardly dispute that the disruptive Ebs
in measures 181-183 are directly linked to the finale's question "Muss es (Eb) sein?"
It should also be noted that the way Beethoven triples the Eb in measure 181 is
perhaps as mysterious as the appearance of the pitch itself. The basic harmony is
eventually unfolded via a return of the quartet's opening gesture, and the appearance of
F~ and A in measure 182-183 make it clear that the initial sonority is F~ °7/Eb (vii°i / ii).
A sequential repetition of the opening gesture (mm. 184-185), however, transforms it
into F7/Eb (VijN), which prompts another false attempt at the main theme in the
subdominant key, B\, (mm. 186-187). At the pickup to measure 188, Beethoven corrects
the false key and completes the movement (and the Ursatz) fittingly with the same
"final" cadence associated with the main theme at measure 10.
79
CHAPTER IV
EXTRAMOTIVIC ASSOCIATIONS, INCLUDING
A "FOREBODING TI\JSTRUSION" OF H:
OPUS 135, SECOND MOVEMENT
Structurally sustained motivic connections, like those between the outer
movements of the F major quartet, are much harder to establish between the finale and
the second movement, the scherzo and trio. Reti and Cooke, who are the most intent on
discovering motivic associations throughout the quartet, have little to say when it comes
to the second movement. Reti, for example, sums up the quartet's middle two
movements in a single sentence accompanied by a musical example. He writes: "As for
the next two movements, the Vivace and the Adagio, we need only point briefly to the
way in which their opening shapes vary the original motif.,,134 As we shall see, the
motives in Reti's example (see Example 4.1), like before, disagree with a Schenkerian
view of the music's harmonic-contrapuntal structure, and it also does not help that he
spontaneously redefines his original motives "I" and "II" here. 135 The first things to
notice is that the two illustrations of Motive II in Example 4.1 are incompatible; in the
opening movement, the motive has the profile of an escape-tone figure (F-G-E), while in
134Reti, 214-215.
I35Compare the "first movement" motives I and II in Example 4.1 with Reti' s original motives I
and II given in Example 1.3.
80
Example 4.1. Reti's Comparison between the Quartet's Opening Gesture and the Scherzo (bass).l36
First movement
I II
,-A-...~
~
Second movement
I
~
9:~ J £ em £
the second movement it is an upper neighbor (C-D-C). It is difficult to say what Reti
views as the commonality here (except that the two have the same contour with one
being an incomplete neighbor and the other being a complete neighbor); it is unfortunate
that he does not offer an explanation. Frequently, Reti's rationale is to make motivic
associations that are pitch-class specific, however that is not the case here.
Pitch-class specificity does come into play when Reti labels his Motive 1. Here,
the motive in the first movement is a leap from B~ down to F, and in the second
movement, it is reversed and transformed into the ascending F-A-B~. As the voice-
leading analysis of the first-movement motive given in Appendix B (mm. 1-2) suggests,
the F functions as a passing tone between a grace note G (which Reti no longer shows)
and the E on the downbeat of measure 2. Ifwe wish to consider the tonal hierarchy, we
must ask ourselves how such an embellishing note could be considered so motivically
vital. Is it not a contradiction of the voice leading to regard a passing tone as an
endpoint? Reti's Motive I in the second excerpt of his example similarly conflicts with a
Schenkerian reading of the passage. In the scherzo, the bass arpeggiates the lower third
(F-A) of the tonic chord, and then continues up to the fifth (C) by passing through B~
(see Appendix C, mm. 1-2, level a). By indicating the B~ passing tone as another
136See Reti, 215 (Ex. 338).
81
motivic endpoint, Reti proposes the same kind of structurally conflicting interpretation
he did for the F in the first movement. To summarize, then, Reti's B~-F motive conflicts
with the tonal structure in both movements since in the first case the F is passing, and in
the second case the B ~ is passing.
Deryck Cooke claims that the scherzo is based on his "bright" major motto-
theme, due in large part to the accompaniment figure in measure 25 (see Example 4.2).
Example 4.2. Cooke's Source for the Scherzo Theme ofOp. 135, ii. 137
25
fl x fl etc.
I u u -
, I /j
-
r·
While there are indeed pitch similarities between Cooke's motto and this particular
pairing of theme and accompaniment, the resemblance comes across more as
happenstance than by design. What about all the other statements of the scherzo
"theme," where it does not appear with this particular arpeggiated accompaniment
(F-C-A)? In these instances, a connection to the "bright" major-motto theme is
nonexistent. I also question Cooke's analysis here because he extracts segments of
different voice-leading strands (melody and accompaniment) and joins them together to
137See Cooke, 44 (Ex. 55).
82
construct something that will resemble his motto-theme. 138 As I have argued earlier,
motivic associations that operate within the parameters of complete, meaningful musical
units (viewed most intelligibly from the Schenkerian perspective) tend to be the most
compelling.
Compared to Reti and Cooke, Christopher Reynolds gives far more consideration
to the inner movements of op. 135, even though his primary concern is the connection
between the quartet's first and last movements. In his view, the scherzo and the set of
slow variations that come after it complement each other as "opposing sides of a single
personality.,,139 Considering the middle movements as a pair, Reynolds goes on to assert
that "beneath the differences in temperament there is a tangible motivic bond between
their opening phrases to match that between the outer movements.,,140
The "tangible motivic bond" of which Reynolds speaks, however, turns out to be
quite abstract in nature. Specifically, Reynolds argues that the beginnings ofthe two
inner movements exhibit a correspondence between their four instrumental parts-but
with the outer voices (violin I and cello) switched. So, for instance, the bass line of the
scherzo's first phrase (mm. 1-8) traces a path that goes up a major sixth (F JlD), down a
major sixth (D~F), and back up a major sixth (F JlD) just prior to the cadence. Reynolds
believes that the theme of the Lento assai (third movement), played by the first violin,
outlines a similar contour: after an initial descending motion, the melody ascends a major
138While it is common in Schenkerian analyses for the voice leading to connect different registers
(see, for example, my interpretation of the "Es muss sein!" motto in Appendix A, mm. 15-17, level a), this
is different from Cooke's example, because he selects notes from two discrete voice-leading strands.
139Reynolds, 187.
14°Ibid.
83
sixth (AbJlF), descends a major sixth (F~Ab), and finally ascends the same sixth (AbJlF).
But considering the phrase structure, does the Lento assai melody really descend a major
sixth in measures 4-57 One could make a case that the F never gets down to Ab since
there is a melodic interruption on 2(Eb) accompanied by a half cadence on the second
beat of measure 4 (see Appendix C, mm. 4-5). From a Schenkerian standpoint, it
appears there is no melodic motion from F down to Ab in measures 4-5; instead, the
melody of the theme starts anew in measure 5 (on Db) and thus the melodic motion to Ab
is initiated not from a sixth above, but from a fourth.
Conversely, Reynolds believes that the scherzo's melody and the bass line at the
beginning of the Lento assai are linked because they both move stepwise within the
boundary of a third. But this connection seems loose at best, given that the scherzo
melody (A-G-F-G-A, etc.) prolongs its third, F-A, with the aid of a passing tone G,
while the Lento assai bass prolongs a single tonic pitch, Db, through upper and lower
neighboring motions (Db-Eb-Db-C-Db). In other words, the third (C-Eb) in the Lento
bass involves a pair of diminutions, whereas the scherzo's third is a structural
representation of the tonic harmony. It appears, then, that the structural skeletons of the
two musical segments are not the same thing at all, since each features a different voice-
leading maneuver. Furthermore, if we consider the phrase structure at the beginning of
the Lento assai, is it really appropriate to say the bass line goes "Db-Eb-Db-C-Db"7
Taking into account the melodic and harmonic interruption in measure 4 (as discussed
84
~ ~
above), the bass line becomes "Di>-Ei>-Di>-CII Di>-Eb-Di>-A~"," which also resists
R ld ' .. d' 141eyno s s motlvlC rea mg.
As far as the inner voices of each movement's first themes are concerned, the
"tangible motivic bond" Reynolds proposes, amounts to a pedal tone in each of the violin
II parts accompanied by a repeating neighbor-note figure in the viola (compare mvt. II:
mm. 1-6 and mvt. III: mm. 3-6). If the outer voices are not related motivically, as my
voice-leading analyses suggest, then the Reynolds's thematic connection between the
second and third movements rests entirely upon their rather nondescript inner-voice
parts, which is an argument I doubt many would support. From a Schenkerian view,
Reynolds's thesis is hindered by motivic connections that run contrary to the music's
harmonic-contrapuntal structure.
So the question remains: are there any motivic ties between the second movement
of op. 135 and the other parts of the quartet-especially the motto themes of the
finale-that are supported by the Schenkerian tonal hierarchy? I have to admit that I
have not been able to locate any such motivic connections between Beethoven's scherzo
and the other movements, but there are other types of connections that make the
movement cohere with the rest of the quartet. Let us now consider those other
connections in detail.
The Scherzo (mm. 1-66)
The most conspicuous association between the scherzo proper and the quartet's
outer movements is the "foreboding intrusion" ofEb (as Reynolds puts it) that is sounded
141 See the voice-leading analysis in Appendix D, mm. 2-6, levels a and b.
85
for more than six measures in unisons and octaves by all four instruments (see mm.
16_22).142 Oddly, Beethoven uses this repeated note to compose the bulk of the
scherzo's B section. Schenker offers an interpretation of the peculiar passage in Free
Composition, where he provides a remote background sketch of the first 32 measures of
the movement showing how ~VII (B) can function as the beginning of a chromaticized
dominant prolongational span; Schenker's sketch is quoted in Example 4.3, below. In
Appendix C, I offer a slight alternative to Schenker's reading by suggesting that B
Example 4.3. Schenker's Voice-leading Sketch ofOp. 135, ii, mm. 1_32. 143
+
F major:
cf --=
17 23/34 32
~~ ..
(~VII) - Vb-- I
starts off as a passing ~7 in the bass, but eventually "resolves" as a chromatic lower
neighbor to H, the inner-voice third of the approaching dominant harmony (see
Appendix C, mm. 17-25, levels a and b). In a dramatic sense, the "intruding" note is yet
another sensational B moment in the quartet. It recalls the startling deceptive cadence
that just occurred at the end ofthe previous movement (see mvt. I, mm. 181-183), and,
of course, it is also provides another musical foreshadowing of the "Es" that is
contemplated in the epigraph of the quartet's final movement.
142Harald Krebs elucidates the "grouping dissonance" that arises from the rhythms in this passage.
Here, Beethoven projects a pattern of two-beat metrical groups (defined by each articulation ofB) that is
superimposed over the notated triple meter. Krebs also astutely observes that the grouping dissonance
"enhances the strangeness" of the foreign B. See Harald Krebs, "Metrical Dissonance and Metrical
Revision in Beethoven's String Quartets," in The String Quartets ofBeethoven, ed. William Kinderman
(Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006),34-35.
143See Schenker, Free Composition, Fig, Ill, al.
86
Looking back to the A section of the scherzo, we see that it demonstrates a
correlation to the first and last movements of the quartet as well. Each time A returns
over the course of the scherzo proper, its principal voices appear in a new instrument
and/or register. This once again confirms Beethoven's preoccupation with invertible
counterpoint, which we have already observed as a characteristic feature of the quartet's
outer movements. 144 The A section of the scherzo is an eight-bar phrase in F major. In
its initial statement (mm. 1-8), the first violin and the cello present the two most
distinctive contrapuntal voices. We might also, as Kerman suggests, include the second
violin's pedal tone (C) in the network of invertible parts, making the counterpoint
triple. 145 Example 4.4, below, presents the scherzo's A section with the invertible voices
labeled "a," "b," and "c":
Example 4.4. Op. 135, ii, mm. 1-8.
®
p
Vivace,.,
u p -'
,., (c)
u ;~I--~ .~~~ .~I--~ .~I--~ .~ ~~ .~ ~~ • ~ ~ ~
~. ~. ~.
":'P
@ I
:
":' I . ~ ~ ":'
144See movement I (mm. 66-78 and mm. 163-171) and movement IV (mm. 88-100 and mm.
132-150).
145 Kerman, 359. I have no objection to including the pedal voice in the invertible counterpoint,
since it does usually appear when A returns, however we must qualify this as a more trivial case of triple
counterpoint.
87
In measures 9-16, we encounter a written-out repeat of the A section, but with the C
pedal now appearing as the highest voice, while the second violin and cello play the other
contrapuntal voices ("a" and "b") an octave higher than they did in the previous eight
measures. The A section appears a total of four times in the scherzo proper, and the
invertible arrangement of its contrapuntal voices for each appearance (using the voice-
labels given in Example 4.4) is summarized below in Figure 4.1:
Figure 4.1. Invertible Counterpoint in Op. 135, ii, A sections of the Scherzo.
AI A 2 A 3 A 4
(mm.1-8) (mm.9-16) (mm.25-32) (mm.33-40)
violin I a c a b
violin II c a b
viola b' a
cello b b c a
The form of the scherzo is slightly irregular due to the addition of the A4 repeat with its
long extension (mm. 41-66) that carries the structural descent of the Urlinie from C (5)
down to F (1) (see Appendix C). In spite of this unexpected expansion of the form, it
still resembles a conventional sectional rounded binary, and can be diagrammed as
follows: 1/ Al A2 (written repeat) II: B A3 A4 + extension :II.
No discussion of the scherzo theme would be complete without addressing its
most potent feature, which, of course, is its rhythm. Harald Krebs categorizes the
overlapping layers of syncopation at the beginning of the movement as "displacement
dissonances." In measures 1-8, for example, the cello and viola have rhythmic patterns
that correspond to the notated triple meter, while the two violins play triple-meter
rhythms that are out of phase with the notated meter. Referring back to Example 4.4, we
88
can see that the first violin's three-beat note values are displaced so that each note's
attack falls on beat two of the notated measure. Similarly, the second violin's three-beat
note values are offset so that each attack falls on beat three of the notated measure. In a
case such as this, where we have more than one distinct "antimetrical" layer sounding out
of phase with the notated meter, Krebs calls it a "compound displacement dissonance,"
which is a type he identifies as being rather popular in Beethoven's string quartets. 146
The Trio (mm. 67-200)
The large-scale tonal structure of Beethoven's inflated trio section of the
movement is much less conventional than the framing statements of the scherzo. Here in
the trio, Beethoven scraps the traditional two-reprise blueprint in favor of an unbroken
dramatic profile that rises tonally from F major through G major, on the way to its
harmonic goal, A major. 147 The trio, in itself, then, is not a closed harmonic structure,
and therefore makes the return of the scherzo da capo a structural necessity. While other
authors have noted that these three keys recall and expand the main pitches of
Beethoven's scherzo theme (see violin I, mm. 1_8),148 none (as far as I know) have
viewed the trio's tonal progression from F (I) to A major (III#) as a foreshadowing of the
relationship between the main and subordinate keys in the finale's sonata form
exposition. Of course, in the trio, Beethoven takes a much longer route to get from I to
146Krebs,34-35.
147Beethoven reinforces the continuous nature of the Trio by eliminating the repeat signs that
would normally appear in the form.
148See Kerman, 361 and Ratner, 299. Kerman informally credits Roger Sessions with this
discovery.
89
rm, however his technique is no less elegant than the more direct approach he employs
in the finale. 149 Example 4.5 provides a high-middleground synopsis of the trio,
illustrating its tonal motion from F major to A major. As the example shows, the motion
Example 4.5. High-middleground Synopsis ofOp. 135, ii, Trio, mm. 67-200.
to A major involves a two-step process. Beethoven's first step is to reach the key of G
major (m), which he accomplishes by way of a modified "falling fifths" sequence (F-
BO/D-E-Am/C- D-G) that features a 5-6 linear intervallic pattern in the outer voices at
the beginning (see Example 4.5, mm. 67-97). Beethoven executes the second stage of
the modulation-getting from the key of G to A-through a harmonic sequence as well
(an 8-10 linear intervallic pattern), although here it operates on a more remote structural
level since the harmonies involved in the sequence are separated by the prolongation of
G in measures 105-118. Example 4.5 reduces this prolongation of G to a single "chord,"
and thereby reveals the harmonic sequence, which moves down by step: D(7)-G, E(7)-A
(see mm. 100-105 and mm. 119--123).
149For my discussion of Beethoven's remarkably efficient transition from I to ill; in the finale,
see chapter II, pp. 46.
90
Another remarkable foreground event not shown in the voice-leading sketch of
Example 4.5, is the obsessively reiterated five-note figure (F#-E-F#-G#-A) that
Beethoven repeats in the lower three strings a total of 48 consecutive times (m. 142 ff.).
This peculiar feature was a source of great bewilderment for Beethoven's critics, and it
led at least two, namely A. B. Marx and Alexander Oulibicheff, to invoke Beethoven's
deafness to explain the quirky repetitious passage. 150 As the motive pedals on and on,
the first violin cuts loose with a spirited "musette," as Ratner calls it, which highlights an
occasional hemiola rhythm (mm. 143-144 &161-162) and dissonances caused by
rhythmic displacement (see Appendix C, mm. 160 & 163-164, for example).
Displacement dissonances such as the melodic D (4) occurring over I, followed by en (3)
occurring over V (mm. 163-164) are comparable to the intriguing dissonance Beethoven
demonstrates in measure 15 of the finale, where the B~ (4) of the "Es muss sein!" motive
is supported by the F major tonic harmony. In the end, however, I must agree with
Knittel that the passage in the trio does not sound nearly as unsettling to our modem ears
as it apparently did in Beethoven's day, but it is definitely unusual, all the same.
The voice-leading graphs in Example 4.5 and in Appendix C both show, on
different levels, how Beethoven cleverly escapes A major to set up for the return of the F
major scherzo. Kerman's description of the action at the foreground is the best:
Beethoven whittles away at the tum-motif, accidental by accidental, until it no
longer lives in A major but in F, and is shown to spell out the numb configuration
A-G-F with which the Scherzo will begin its da capo. 151
lSOFor translations of Marx's and Oulibicheff's reviews, see K. M. Knittel, "'Late', Last, and
Least: On Being Beethoven's Quartet in F Major, Op. 135," Music & Letters 87/1 (2006): 17-18.
lSIKerman, 361.
91
By gradually morphing the motive so that it uses m (instead of G#) and Fq (instead of F#)
in measures 190-191, Beethoven is able to mitigate the sharpness of the common-tone
modulation from A major to F major considerably. The common tone, A (3), then
descends to G (2), ending the trio with melodic interruption supported by a half cadence
(see mm. 192-200). The ensuing scherzo da capo, though it is renotated, appears exactly
as it did at the beginning of the movement, with the exception that there is now a 7-bar
tonic-chord coda based on the duple rhythm of the scherzo's B section added to the end
(mm. 266-272).
In conclusion, while there may be no motivic relations between the second
movement of op. 135 and the other movements in the quartet that are supported by the
Schenkerian tonal hierarchy, there are a number of other kinds of associations that
connect the scherzo movement to the rest of the quartet. The similarities range from
pitch-specific correlations, like the modulation from F major to A major in the trio and
the intrusion of Eb ("Es") in the scherzo proper, to more general compositional
techniques, such as the composer's emphasis on invertible counterpoint. All of these
elements work to contribute both overt and subtle layers of coherence to Beethoven's last
quartet.
92
CHAPTER V
A MICROCOSM OF THE WHOLE:
OPUS 135, THIRD MOVEMENT
The third movement of Beethoven's F major quartet, marked "Lento assai,
cantante e tranquillo," is an ultra-compact set of slow variations in D~ major. Since the
movement concentrates on developing a single theme, there will naturally be less
material to consider when seeking motivic parallels with the quartet's other movements.
As it turns out, the opening segment of the theme bears a striking resemblance to the first
half of the finale's subordinate theme. It appears Cooke was the first to relate the two
themes to each other motivically, although he did so indirectly by showing that each was
based on the first four pitches of his "bright" major motto-theme (see Example 5.1).
Example 5.1. Cooke's Motivic Source for Two Thematic Segments in Op. 135.152
a. Lento assai Theme, Op. 135, iii
~ Motive A I, ••j=~~~~~::~: ~..~~~o~mIV~ 2~.~/:&0 ~e- II ~o
I
X LI -'
Y
b. Subordinate Theme, Op. 135, iv
Motive A
y
152See Cooke, 44-45.
93
Despite being in different keys, the two thematic segments clearly have matching
structural skeletons. Specifically, each begins with a descent from i to 5, then ascends
back up through i to the highpoint, 3, and finally ends with a melodic interruption on
2. 153 In addition, the two segments emphasize their corresponding structural scale
degrees analogously within their respective meters. In light of these deeper structural
similarities, Cooke's assertion that the thematic segments are related motivically is quite
convincing. I should note that I use the term "thematic segment" here since each of the
phrases Cooke cites is only the first part of a larger conventional theme type. In the
finale, the full theme usually appears as a parallel period, while in the Lento assai it is a
sentence (an important characteristic that I shall address shortly).
As I discussed in Chapter IV, Christopher Reynolds considers the second and
third movements of op. 135 as a pair linked by a "tangible motivic bond" between the
corresponding voices of their opening measures. 154 Upon probing the music's deeper
tonal structure, however, we find that these proposed "motivic bonds" are either
incompatible with the harmony, voice leading, and phrase design, or else they have such
indistinct melodic and rhythmic profiles (as with a pedal tone, for example) that the
connections seem incidental at best. The middle movements of the quartet, then, do not
appear to have the same type of motivic cohesion that unifies the outer movements. That
being said, the Lento assai does demonstrate a significant motivic association with the
153Compare Cooke's examples with my voice-leading graphs of the Lento assai theme (see
Appendix D, mm. 3--4) and the finale's subordinate theme recapitulated in the tonic (see Appendix A, mm.
216-219).
154See Chapter IV, pp. 82-84.
94
finale, although it is aligned with the finale's subordinate theme, rather than the motto
themes that appear in the epigraph. 155 But perhaps more importantly, the Lento assai,
like the preceding scherzo and trio, identifies considerably with the quartet's outer
movements through an array of very convincing "extramotivic" relationships. Let us
now consider, among other things, some of these relationships in detail.
The Theme (mm. 1--12)
Entries in one of Beethoven's sketchbooks suggests that the Db melody of the
Lento assai was originally conceived as an ending to be attached to the finale of the
preceding quartet in C~ minor, op. 131. 156 In the book, Beethoven reveals his own
thoughts on the emotional character of the theme, labeling it "sweet song of rest" (Susser
Ruhegesang) and "song of peace" (Friedengesang).157 From a technical standpoint, the
theme is a sentence. 158 Its presentation segment (mm. 3-4), which is the two-bar phrase
quoted by Cooke, is repeated more or less exactly in measures 5-6; the ensuing
"continuation" (mm. 7-10), begins sequentially with a passage based on the "falling
155Recall that the quartet's outer movements are unified principally through various
transformations of the "Muss es sein?" or "Es muss sein!" mottos.
156See Robert Winter, "Plans for the Structure of the String Quartet in C Sharp Minor, Op. 131,"
in Beethoven Studies 2, ed. Alan Tyson (London: Oxford University Press 1977), 121-125. The sketches
in question are from Beethoven's "Kullak" sketchbook (Autograph 24) held at the StaatsbibJiothek
Preussicher Kulturbesitz in Berlin.
l570f course, Beethoven's ultimate decision not to use the Db melody in the C~ minor quartet has
prompted some writers to wonder whether the whole F major quartet was written with the purpose of
providing a home for the "sweet song of rest." See Bumpass, "Beethoven's Last Quartet," 224. Here, she
defends the conservative aspects of op. 135 by reasoning "it is not inconsistent that a quartet born out of a
'sweet song ofrest' should, in its overall stylistic profile and in many details, echo the sense of resolution
ofthe Lento."
158Caplin also discusses the Lento assai theme as a sentence in Classical Form, 11-12.
95
fifths" progression. Through the sequence, the theme is fragmented before leading to an
authentic cadence embellished with cadential six_four. 159
While the theme is fundamentally an eight-measure unit (2+2+4 bars), it is
extended on both ends. Before its beginning, Beethoven places an introduction to the
theme in first two measures of the movement, which set the stage by literally introducing
each instrument, one at a time, and each note of the DI, tonic triad, one at a time. The
order in which the tonic's pitches enter (F-AI,-DI,) is significant because the ordering
delays the tonic note until last. That way, when it does come in, the tonic provides a
delightful surprise. Since all the previous music was in F, the first notes of the Lento
assai, F and AI" inevitably bring to mind F minor. But as soon as the DI, makes an
appearance, we experience an instantaneous shift in our tonal perception as we
reinterpret the F and AI, in a whole new light as the third and fifth of the DI, tonic chord.
In a general sense, then, the thematic introduction here is quite like the Grave
introduction in the finale since both introductions withhold their true tonics at the
beginning.
As far as the theme itself is concerned, we might be tempted to think that the
melodic shape of its first six pitches corresponds to the retrograde inversion of "Es muss
seinl" filled in with passing tones. While their outward contours are similar, the Lento
theme's melodic line does not stop on its sixth note (C), but instead continues upward (to
159The sentence proportions of the theme are undeniable, however the organization of its cadences
also suggests a contrasting period. This is because the theme's presentation and repetition segments are
each phrases that end with a melodic interruption on :2 supported by a half cadence. Collectively, the
presentation and repetition bring to mind an antecedent phrase (with the stronger root position Vat the end
of the repetition serving as the half cadence for the pair). The continuation, then, suggests a melodically
contrasting consequent that ends conclusively with a perfect authentic cadence
96
F), making it different from the RI motive once we consider it as a whole. A more
significant difference between the two segments, however, is that they have
fundamentally different middleground structures. The RI motive in the finale has a
structural skeleton that unfolds a series of descending parallel thirds as two distinct
voices of a compound melody. In contrast, the Lento assai segment just prolongs 1(Db)
through a motion to and from 5(compare Appendix A, mm. 17-20 with Appendix D,
mm.3-4).
The first real similarity between the Lento assai and the quartet's finale can be
found in the theme's continuation segment. As I mentioned, the theme's continuation
(mm. 7-10) is based on a "falling fifths" sequence. The basic sonorities in the
continuation (ignoring specific chordal inversions) are listed in Figure 5.1. Notice
especially the progression in measures 7-8: F7-Bbm-Bb-Ebm. This progression
Figure 5.1. "Falling Fifths" in the "Continuation" Segment ofOp. 135, iii, Theme, mm. 7-10.
foreshadows the opening progression (in the key ofF minor) at the beginning of the
finale: Fm-F-Bbm-Bb7-Eo7/G (see mm. 1-5). As I noted in Chapter II (p. 33), the fact
that Beethoven emphasizes Bb7 (V7 jVll) so early in the finale is worth noting, because
in doing so, he threatens to lead us tonally astray to Eb before the tonic itself is firmly
established. In dramatic fashion, then, Beethoven compels us to ask ourselves, "Muss Es
(EJ,) sein?" Of course, Beethoven does not actually deliver EJ, in the finale, since such a
---------------_._----_....._._._-
97
tonal departure would be premature in the opening bars of the movement. But when the
progression appears within the tonal landscape of the D~ Lento assai, Beethoven does not
hesitate to resolve the B~ chord to Bm, because in this key, "Es (B) muss natiirlich
sein!"
Another feature of the Lento theme that connects it to the other movements of the
quartet comes in its little two-bar extension (mm. 11-12). Here, Beethoven underscores
the theme's structural cadence at measure 10 by restating the cadential measure two
additional times. Notice, however, that Beethoven does not simply repeat the cadential
measure. Instead, he composes a variation of it in which he transfers its 3-2- j melodic
descent to different registers in such a way that suggests canonic imitation. When we
consider that Beethoven's finale was inspired by a canon (i.e., the "Es muss sein!" joke
canon), the reference seems quite clear.
In the coming variations, Beethoven tends to follow his original theme fairly
closely in terms of tonal structure and phrase design. Each variation, as we shall see,
consists of an eight-measure sentence followed by a two-bar cadential extension. In this
way, the movement is completely symmetrical around the second variation, which is
highlighted further by its contrasting en minor tonality and also by its homophonic
texture. Beethoven's sketches show that he originally planned the Lento assai as a
ternary form, so it follows that he would arrange his theme and variations to group
musically as follows:
A
Theme &Variation I
B
Variation II (minore)
A'
Variations III & IV
98
Beethoven even adds a two-bar coda at the end of the movement as a counterweight to
the similarly sized thematic introduction.
Variation I (mm. 13-22)
That Beethoven would conceive of the theme and the first variation as a pair is
evidenced by the two-note "plagal" link that seems to cause a phrase overlap on the
downbeat of measure 13. 160 The overlap so effectively minimizes the variation's feeling
of commencement, that we are almost unsure it has begun.
Of all the variations, this is the least sentence-like. Strictly speaking, it is not a
sentence in the classic sense because its third and fourth measures (mm. 15-16) do not
repeat the opening melodic idea. 161 Still, the variation's proportional dimensions give it
a clear sentential character. And furthermore, its "continuation" segment (mm. 17-20),
although embellished heavily with chords having applied (or "secondary") functions, is
still based on the "falling fifths" sequence we observed in the original theme. Figure 5.2
clarifies the underlying sequential progression by providing the basic sonorities (the
newly added secondary-functioning chords appear in brackets "[ ]").
Figure 5.2. "Falling Fifths" in the "Continuation" Segment ofOp. 135, iii, Variation I, mm. 17-20.
17 18 19 20
[C7] F Bb [It.+6 ] Bb Ebm [Eb7] Ab7 Db "IS" V~ 16
16~otice that Beethoven uses the same link to connect variations III & IV, and also to prolong the
tonic in the coda.
161The bass line in measures 15-16, however, is an embellished repetition of the bass in measures
13-14 (see the voice-leading graph in Appendix D, mm. 13-16).
99
At the end of the first variation's "sentence," we find the recurring two-bar
cadential extension. This time, Beethoven hints at the kind of invertible counterpoint
that is a principal feature of all the other movements in the quartet. Figure 5.3 illustrates
how the cadential parts are repositioned among the instrumental voices in measures
20-22. Notice in measure 22 how the viola in changes 3(F) into ~3 (Fb); this mutation
of the third scale degree prepares the minor mode tonality of the second variation.
Figure 5.3. Invertible Counterpoint in Op. 135, iii, Variation I, mm. 20-22. 162
20 21 22
violin I 5--1 3-2-1 5--1
violin II 3-2-1 1-7-5/(1) 5-1
viola 1-7-5/(1) 5--1 1/(5)-4-3~~3
cello 5-4-3 5-4-3 3-2-1
Variation II (mm. 23-32)
The C# minor variation serves as a contrasting middle section within the
movement. Besides being in a different mode, the variation also introduces a contrast in
its textural and rhythmic style. Whereas the preceding D~ music was very lyrical with its
sweeping legato melodies, variation II begins more like a funeral march with punctuated
chords played in dotted rhythm. In terms of its phrase structure, variation II can also be
understood as a sentence, although its focus on elements other than melody can make
identifying the sentence more challenging. The presentation segment (mm. 23-24)
moves harmonically from tonic to dominant in C# minor, while the repetition (mm.
162Parenthesized scale degree numbers in Figure 5.3 represent implied structural notes at moments
when the voice leading appears to skip to or from a less structural "inner voice."
100
25-26) repeats the same motion, but in the relative major (E). Melodically, the repetition
is not as literal as it is in most sentence forms, however the bass lines of the presentation
and repetition do have essentially the same structure (although not the same surface
contour).
It is in the continuation segment (mm. 27-30) that the variation demonstrates a
noticeable characteristic of the quartet's first and last movements. Specifically,
Beethoven obscures the voice leading through an extraordinary amount ofregistral
displacement. In my voice-leading sketch ofthe movement (Appendix D), I attempt to
untangle the labyrinth of displaced voices in order to reveal the simpler underlying
structure. Level a of the graph uses solid and dashed arrows to indicate registral shifts in
a particular voice-leading path; the solid arrows show displaced stepwise motion, while
the dashed arrows indicate common tones that have switched registers. Level b of the
graph then presents a hypothetical reconstruction of the voice leading with the registers
for each voice-leading strand normalized. 163 Accordingly, we can conceptualize
Beethoven's ultra-complex voice leading, represented at level a of the graph, as
developing from the simpler model progression shown at levels band c.
As we have already seen, Beethoven employs register displacement in the finale
(see especially mm. 88-100 of the development section), however the technique plays an
even more fundamental role in the first movement. Even in the main theme of the first
movement, Beethoven displaces motivic segments among the registers of the viola and
violins (see mm. 5-10). He then follows this theme with a quarter-note "subject" (mm.
1631 arrive at this particular arrangement of the voices at level b of Appendix D (mm. 27-30) by
looking ahead to the structural cadential six-four in measure 30 and then tracing the voice leading
backwards to the beginning of measure 27.
101
10-14), which is constructed fundamentally of displaced stepwise motion. Generally
speaking, the technique of register transfer reflects Beethoven's attraction to extreme
contrasts, and more specifically he employs it in the first movement as a way to
experiment with the effects of discontinuity.
Variation III (mm. 33-42)
The third variation of the Lento assai returns to D~ major, and it features the
return of the movement's "sweet song ofrest," which appears in the cello. The most
remarkable feature, and the one that is most suggestive of the quartet's finale, is that
Beethoven sets the theme canonically with the first violin following at the distance of
one measure. Compare this with what happens in measures 25-32 of the finale: there,
Beethoven sets the retrograde-inversion theme, which is itself a sentence, in canonic
imitation at the distance of one measure. In both the finale and in variation III, the canon
has an unusual effect on the phrase structure because it obscures the characteristic
segments (presentation, repetition, and continuation) of the sentence.
Variation IV (mm 43-52)
The exquisite final variation in the Lento assai completes the arch form of the
movement by recalling several structural aspects of variation r. After referencing the
central techniques of the quartet's other movements, it seems only fitting that the Lento
assai would, in the end, come to reference itself. Here, the presentation and repetition
segments of the sentence form are once again explicitly clear, and Beethoven also brings
back the cello's bass line (DI,-Eb-D~-C) originally from measures 3-4. Meanwhile, the
102
melody, which is adorned with appoggiaturas, has a basic structure (Db-C-Db-B) that is
the inversion of the bass line. 164 In his final variation, Beethoven is focused less on
making allusions to other movements, and instead appears to be consumed with creating
what is arguably the most breathtakingly beautiful moment in the entire quartet. At the
end of the continuation (m. 50), Beethoven avoids the expected perfect authentic cadence
(by going to 16 ), which allows him to take another approach to the cadence in measures
51-52 with the first violin soaring to a climactic high Bb before the structural final
cadence. Beethoven extends the final tonic with a two-bar coda that features the same
"plagal" neighbor-note embellishments that appear between the major-mode variations.
The coda provides a counterbalance to the thematic introduction, and its embellished
arpeggio in the last bar, Db-Ab-F, provides a fitting end as it rounds out the movement
with the retrograde of its first three notes. And so it is that Beethoven makes one final
allusion to the contrapuntal transformations that we will find so prominently in the
quartet's finale.
164This double-neighbor-note motive (i.e., 1-7-1-2) also appears in the top voice of the C~
minor variation (mm. 23-24).
103
CHAPTER VI
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This study examines the harmonic, contrapuntal, and motivic procedures in
Beethoven's last complete composition, his string quartet in F major, op. 135.
Specifically, the inquiry here searches for a compositional logic that might help elucidate
the work's intricacies and idiosyncrasies, which are reflective ofthe composer's late
style in general. Throughout the final quartet's history, critical evaluations of the work
have been remarkably diverse, owing to the myriad approaches and levels of detail that
the various critics have applied. In general, the earliest commentators on Beethoven's
last five quartets struggled to make sense of the works on a technical level, and many
turned instead to dealing with them on a highly subjective emotional and spiritual level.
Modern authors writing about Beethoven's entire string quartet output have-perhaps
out of necessity-also bypassed the analytical microscope, and have seemingly based
their assessments on the more immediate features of the late quartets. Consequently,
both of these traditions have led some to regard Beethoven's final quartet, op. 135, as
"regressive" or, more favorably, "nostalgic."
With the advancement of motivic analytical techniques in the mid-twentieth
century, a few writers began to discuss sophisticated and subtle relationships among the
themes of Beethoven's last quartet. As we have seen, Arnold Schoenberg (1941),
Rudolph Reti (1951), Deryck Cooke (1963), and Christopher Reynolds (1988) have all
104
praised op. 135 for its unified motivic structure. But while there is undoubtedly a
motivic process at work in op. 135, these analysts (with the exception of Schoenberg)
have been so focused on locating their basic motivic shapes at every turn that they
sometimes produce a reading that is inconsistent with the tonal hierarchy of the music as
viewed from a Schenkerian perspective. Reti and Cooke, for example, often locate their
underlying motives by singling out certain decorative pitches in the music while at the
same time suppressing the structural notes they embellish. Even a modern scholar like
Reynolds occasionally proposes motivic connections that run contrary to the music's
harmonic-contrapuntal structure. At other times, Reynolds's motives are either so
loosely defined or indistinct in form that the motivic relationships he suggests are hardly
distinguishable.
What we need is some type of quality control system that can help us assess a
motivic reading within the context of the music's harmonic and voice-leading structures.
Such a control system, as this study contends, is already available in Schenker's method.
Of course, the reliability of any particular Schenkerian reading will naturally depend on
the insight, skill, and inventiveness of the analyst, but the fact that Schenker's techniques
are now so widely studied will enable many readers to judge the appropriateness of
specific voice-leading analyses on an individual basis.
An additional virtue of the Schenkerian graph is that it can do more than just
evaluate existing motivic analyses. The analyses contained in this study demonstrate
how the voice-leading graph can actually help generate a well-founded motivic analysis,
particularly by revealing motivic relationships that reside at deeper levels of structure,
105
which would likely go unnoticed if we were to limit our investigation to the music's
surface. Most notably in op. 135, the three unfolded thirds of the finale's "Es muss
sein!" motto (3-5, 2---4,1-3), can be linked to a network of related themes in the quartet
that demonstrate the same middleground voice leading, yet do not necessarily represent
one of the traditionally recognized transformations (like inversion or retrograde). But
while a motivic analysis supported by the tonal structure can certainly reveal a certain
level of coherence in the last quartet, it cannot fully explain the unusual sound world
Beethoven created in his late works. The striking sounds of Beethoven's late
compositions arise principally from a given work's intervallic content, which is
expressed through chords, counterpoint, and melody, all things that are best addressed
through the Schenkerian method. So while most analysts have searched for coherence in
the motivic processes of op. 135, we can also recognize a fundamental level of coherence
in each movement's composing-out of the Schenkerian Ursatz.
This study begins its investigation of op. 135 with the quartet's finale, which
Beethoven singles out by prefacing it with a surprising motivic epigraph. While it is
unclear what the epigraph's cryptic title "Der schwer gefasste Entschluss" ("The
Difficult Decision") might signifY for Beethoven, Christopher Reynolds appears to have
decoded the meaning (at least on a musical level) that lies behind its "Muss es sein?"
question and "Es muss sein!" response. By reading "Es" literally as the German note
name for H, Reynolds imagines the quartet as a drama in which the note H is
transformed from being a disruptive intrusion in the first movement to becoming an
integral part of the main motives of the finale. To be sure, Reynolds's interpretation
r------------...._- _....- ------ ----
106
helps us justify several unexpected Eb moments throughout the quartet. And thus it
appears that Beethoven's epigraph is the key to understanding certain events that occur in
the quartet. Not surprisingly, motives based on the "Muss es sein?" and "Es muss sein!"
pitch patterns--presented in their purest forms in the epigraph-wind up having the
greatest global significance. Transformations of the motto themes appear throughout the
quartet's outer movements, and thereby promote an extraordinary kinship between the
work's beginning and end.
The motivic alliance between the quartet's outer movements is certainly
remarkable in itself, however extramotivic techniques at work in op. 135 also help bring
all the movements of the quartet together into a powerfully unified artistic expression. In
the finale, for instance, Beethoven also demonstrates an interest in older contrapuntal
techniques such as canon and invertible counterpoint. At times, he even integrates his
fondness for motivic transformations and counterpoint by setting his retrograde-
inversionally related main themes against each other in invertible counterpoint (see
especially the development section). Invertible counterpoint also figures prominently in
the quartet's first movement. As in the finale, it occurs here most impressively at the
beginning of the development section, where Beethoven combines two of the most
prominent themes of the exposition in a series of modulating statements in a genuinely
fugal style that carries each theme from voice to voice. In the second movement, too,
invertible counterpoint plays a pronounced role, as each repetition of the scherzo's A
section reintroduces three recurring contrapuntal voices (one being a pedal) in avariety
of registers and instrumental parts. Lastly, in the Db theme and variations of movement
107
III, Beethoven manages to incorporate a brief suggestion of invertible counterpoint
during a series of cadential repetitions at the end of variation 1. The movement connects
to the quartet's finale even more explicitly in its third variation, where Beethoven sets the
Lento theme against itself in canon.
Besides canonic imitation and invertible counterpoint, another equally
distinguishing characteristic that runs through the F major quartet has to do with
techniques that promote contrast and discontinuity. In the finale, there is a strong
polarity suggested by Beethoven's musical question ("Muss es sein?") and response ("Es
muss sein!") that the composer then realizes in the ensuing movement through its
contrasting Grave and Allegro sections. Most noticeably, the contrasting elements in the
finale include tempo, meter, mode, dynamics, articulation, and overall emotional
character.
Beethoven also achieves discontinuity in the finale through the technique of
register displacement, though this technique is even more characteristic of the quartet's
opening movement. In the first movement, short segments of the main theme in
measures 5-10 are divided so distinctly among different registers and/or instruments that
Bumpass refers to the melodic texture as a "mosaic." Of course, we can compare this
with several developmental passages in the finale where the voice leading is also
displaced registrally.165 Beethoven uses the technique in the third variation of the Lento
assai movement, as well. In measures 27-30 of that movement, we find an entanglement
of displaced voices that rivals the complexity of any other passage in the quartet.
165See, for example, movement IV, mm. 89-100, mm. 170-173, and mm. 244-249.
108
Another discontinuous element common to both outer movements worth
mentioning involves the composer's play with metrical ambiguity. This type of
discontinuity can be felt most perceptibly in the Grave introduction of the finale (mm.
5_11),166 and in the quarter-note subject of the first movement (mm. 10_17).167
A final compositional element that unifies all four movements of Beethoven's F
major quartet is, as Reynolds has suggested, the conspicuous role that Eb plays in the
entire work. In movements I and II, Eb is an intruder that disrupts the musical flow. At
the end of the first movement, for example, a deceptive cadence using Eb trebled in the
lower voices provides quite a shock to the system as it effectively derails the music's
momentum. Similarly, the B section of the scherzo proper in movement II, consists of
nothing more than a rowdy Eb that is syncopated on unisons and octaves for more than
six measures by each instrument (see mm. 16-22). In stark contrast, Eb is completely at
home as 2in the Db Lento assai. In this movement, we are made to experience Eb in a
completely different light, as it is emphasized in the recurring melodic interruptions built
into the structure of the theme and variations. Now, Eb is no longer a disruptive agent,
but rather an essential participant in the movement's deep melodic structure. Finally,
when the finale comes, Beethoven attempts to reconcile the role ofEb in the quartet's
main key, F major. Reynolds's commentary on the matter brings to mind Schoenberg's
musical idea. Owing to the fact that Beethoven has at last successfully managed to
integrate Eb into his main thematic material (see, for example, the retrograde-inversion
166See the discussion in Chapter II, pp. 34-35.
167See the discussion in Chapter III, pp. 68-70.
109
theme, mm. 17-24), Reynolds asserts: "The finale arrives as both a solution and a
synthesis." 168
* * * * * *
The String Quartet in F major, op. 135, embodies a number of compositional
traits routinely associated with Beethoven's late style: canon, invertible counterpoint,
discontinuous structures, and the incorporation of intricate motivic associations both
within and across movements. Add to that, the finale's musical/philosophical epigraph
and the dramatic role that the note £I, plays over the course of the work, and it becomes
increasingly hard to imagine the last quartet as "nostalgic," or worse, "regressive." Since
its debut, however, there have been critics who have identified the quartet as evoking an
earlier tradition. To them, the final quartet falls short of the expectations established by
the composer's preceding "late" quartets (opp. 127,132, 130, and 131). In making their
judgments, however, it appears that these authors may have relied more upon intuition
and their general impressions of the quartet's most immediately perceptible features
(such as its more conventional treatment of form, its tendency to avoid remote tonal
juxtapositions, and its lighter emotional character overall) than any comprehensive
analytical investigation. In this study of op. 135, on the other hand, I have followed the
principle that a close reading of the entire quartet is necessary to avoid stereotyping it. In
my analyses of complete movements of Beethoven's op. 135, I have found the quartet to
be both deceptively simple as well as maze-like and bewildering. In either case, a careful
168Reynolds, 193.
110
and through analysis that considers not only the work's motivic relationships, but also
the broader harmonic and contrapuntal contexts within which the motives operate, offers
a more robust, yet nuanced method for getting closer to the quartet-a method that has
been ignored for far too long.
APPENDIX A
VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, IV
111
Appendix A. Voice-Leading Sketch, Gp. 135, iv
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APPENDIXB
VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, I
134
Appendix B. Voice-Leading Sketch, Gp. 135, i
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VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, II
156
Appendix C. Voice-Leading Sketch, Gp. 135, ii
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VOICE-LEADING SKETCH, OP. 135, III
177
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