THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Chamber Music Series 1946-1947

String Quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven Performed by the Busch Quartet

GROUP III WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 19, 1947

AT 8:30 IN THE LECTURE HALL THE BUSCH QUARTET

Adolf Busch, First Violin Ernest Drucker, Second Violin Hugo Gottesmann, Viola Hermann Busch, Cello P R O G R A M

Ludwig van Beethoven (IJJO-182J)

String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 18, No. 6 (1801)

I. Allegro con brio II. Adagio, ma non troppo III. Scherzo, allegro—Trio IV. Adagio ("La Malinconia")—Allegretto quasi Allegro

String Quartet in F major, Op. 135 (1826)

I. Allegretto II. Vivace III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo IV. Grave, ma non troppo tratto—Allegro ("Der schwer gefasste Entschluss")

I N TERMISSION

String Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131 (1826)

Adagio, ma non troppo e molto espressivo — Allegro molto vivace—Allegro moderato—Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile—Presto—Adagio quasi un poco andante—Allegro NOTE

Opus i8} No. 6. This string quartet, in B fiat major, was published with the five other quartets forming opus 18 in Vienna in 1801. The first movement is in sonata form. The second movement is in ternary song form: the exposition is followed by a middle section built on entirely different material; this in turn is followed by the recapitula­ tion of the exposition; and the short coda takes up ideas from the middle section. The last movement consists of a slow introduction, entitled "La Malinconia," and a vigorous rondo which, in one of its episodes, employs the theme of the introduction.

Opus 135, in F major, is one of the string quartets that belong to Beethoven's last period (1823-1826). In these works Beethoven, deaf and secluded from the world, entered upon entirely new ways and created forms which up to now have found no successors. The first movement, Allegretto, of opus 135 is in sonata form. The second, Vivace, is a scherzo, with a trio considerably longer than the scherzo itself. The third, Lento assai, consists of four free variations on a nine- bar theme. The finale is in sonata form. Its material is developed from two short, closely related motives—g} e, a flat (Muss es sein?—"Must it be?") and, in answer to"this question, ay c} g (Es muss sein—"It must be"). The question is presented in the slow introduction by the violin and the violoncello, whereupon the following Allegro gives the answer. Beethoven made the meaning of these motives clear by noting them on the score, with the words that explain them, before the beginning of the movement.

Opus 1 Siy in C sharp minor, is one of the most profound and significant creations in all quartet literature. Its organization is entirely unique. The seven parts into which it may be divided are: (1) a free fugue employing in the stretto the augmentation of the fugue subject; (2) a sonata movement (Allegro molto vivace); (3) an eleven-bar introduction (Allegro moderato) leading to the Andante (4), a set of seven variations on a long theme of thirty-two bars; (5) a scherzo (Presto), with a trio twice recapitulated; (6) a short Adagio of twenty- eight bars (quasi un poco andante); and (7) a finale of gigantic dimensions in sonata form, with an unusually long and elaborate coda.

EMANUEL WINTERNITZ