Notes for: July 27, 2021
Beethoven was at a crossroads when he wrote his Viola String Quintet in C Major. After he moved from Bonn to Vienna in 1792, he spent the next several years proving that he could match Haydn and Mozart as a master of each major genre of the Viennese Classical style. By the time he wrote the Op. 29 Quintet he had already composed, and won applause for, his early sonatas, trios, and quartets. Now, in 1801, he was restless and ready to set off on what he called his “new path” – the revolution that would take music from the Classical to the Romantic era. The Quintet was written at this decisive juncture in Beethoven’s musical journey.
The C Major Quintet looks in two directions: back to the Classical past, and ahead to things to come. Like much of Beethoven’s early work, it shows Mozart’s influence. Mozart’s great series of viola quintets undoubtedly pointed the way for Beethoven, who, like Mozart, takes full advantage of the richer harmonic and textural possibilities that the second viola allows. The first two movements in particular are gracious examples of the Classical style. The expansive Allegro that opens the Quintet is Mozartian in its gracefulness, effortless flow, and harmonic breadth. There is playfulness too, such as when the violin adds chirps over the main theme in the recapitulation. Even in this amiable first movement, though, Beethoven pushes boundaries: Instead of sticking to the conventional tonic-dominant relationships of Classical composition, he consistently moves to keys that, unorthodoxly, are a third away.
Gracefulness and charm also characterize the second movement, a beguiling Adagio rich in lyrical phrases, harmonic color, and impressive contrapuntal writing. Then, in the energetic and playful Scherzo, Beethoven tries another new idea: The movement grows entirely out of a brief three-note motif in the opening measure, presaging a conciseness that will occur more frequently in Beethoven’s later works. The inventiveness continues in the Presto, which Beethoven launches with suggestions of thunder and lightning that earned the Quintet the nickname “Storm.” Among the surprises are the stop-and-start character of the opening motif; an unusual number of themes in the exposition and development; and a sudden change to Andante toward the close of the development, when Beethoven introduces an amusingly simple, minuet-like little tune. A satisfyingly stormy coda brings to a close a masterful work that marks an important step in Beethoven’s creative development.