Fantastic finale
Beethoven Op. 18, No. 1: IV. Allegro
Beethoven’s first-published quartet, Op. 18, No. 1 remains one of his most beloved early works in the genre. The first movement is dynamic and revolves around a little turn motif that shows up all over the place; the second movement plumbs the depths of emotion in a way composers had never explored before; and the third movement is a fun and witty brisk dance that combines humour and surprise. Let’s now explore the final movement. It is a fast-paced thrilling ride that surprises at every turn.
So many ideas
In the exposition of this movement, Beethoven will throw so many ideas at us. But the main theme of the movement is stated right from the start. It consists of a breathtaking winding motif in the first violin (highlighted in blue) which the whole quartet punctuates with three short notes (outlined in the same colour). Here we’ll hear it twice.
Then the first violin riffs on this idea with a new appended questioning motif (again outlined in the blue). He uses this little questioning motif sparingly until the very end of the movement where it will get its proper due.
We then hear this opening phrase once again, this time with the viola taking over the melody. Note that already Beethoven offsets the three note punctuation for a bit of playfulness.
The opening idea that we’ve seen so far will form the basis of some exciting counterpoint later in the development section and at the very end of the movement.
For the rest of the exposition, Beethoven proposes a lot of musical ideas that provide ample material for conversation between the instruments. He starts with this one highlighted in teal.
Then this bold unison passage (highlighted in lime).
We get a conversation between the violins (highlighted in yellow) and one between the viola and cello (highlighted in orange).
He presents us with one final melodic idea (highlighted in light blue) accompanied by the opening figure, first in the minor mode, then in the major mode. Then the quartet, juggling both ideas, crescendos into the development.
Dizzying development
In such a short amount of time, Beethoven has thrown so many melodic ideas at us that we might start to feel a bit dizzy. This brings us to the exciting development section; however, it starts out by sounding like a repeat of the exposition.
When the viola takes over (as in the exposition), things start to fall apart. The three-note motif that punctuates the opening figure is now offset. The cello takes over the dizzying opening motif, which then leads to a passing of the three-note motif.
This causes an argument in the quartet!
This leads us to our first contrapuntal section. We hear the opening theme in the viola (with an appended tag outlined in blue) with a new countermelody in the first violin (highlighted in red, also with an appended tag outlined in the same colour). Each instrument takes up these two figures in quick succession, called fugato (here’s a video explaining fugue and fugato). It’s a thrilling passage that adds drama to the movement.
A bit later a second fugato takes over the quartet using the same material as the last example.
An exciting conclusion
After this intense development, the recapitulation unfolds much like it did in the exposition. But Beethoven has one last surprise. At the end of the movement, Beethoven concludes by restating the opening theme, but it takes a wrong turn. The cello takes up the opening theme and then leads the quartet (using the three note motif from the opening) on a jaunty search for the right path.
They find where they need to be, and the quartet joyfully passes around the opening motif, this time accompanied by a new cheerful countermelody (highlighted in fuchsia). The questioning motif from the very beginning of the movement reappears in the first violin. The music builds to a climax and an ecstatic passing of the opening motif between the second violin and viola ensues. It’s an exciting and satisfying conclusion to this glorious quartet!