Opus 4 – Quintet in E flat major for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello
I) Allegro con brio – II) Andante – III) Menuetto – Allegretto – IV) Finale – Allegro
Opus 4 – Quintet in E flat major for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello, op. 4, 1795-1796, published in separate parts in Vienna, Artaria, spring 1796; in score in Offenbach s/m, André, autumn 1829. G.A. no. 36 (series 5/5) – Bruers 4 – L.I, page 56 – KH. 4 – Nottebohm 4 – P. 65 – T. 38 – Biamonti 115.
Official title: Quintett (Es-dur) nach dem Bläseroktett op. 103 für zwei Violinen, zwei Violen und Violoncello Opus 4.
Widmung: NGA VI/2 AGA 36 = Serie 5/5 Werke.
Wegeler recounts that, in 1795, the amateur musician Anton Georg Apponyi commissioned Beethoven to write a quartet. Beethoven is said to have tried twice but was unable to complete it. It appears that the first attempt led to the creation of the Trio Op. 3 for strings, while the second resulted in the present Quintet. Wegeler’s account can be interpreted to mean that Beethoven initially considered using material from two of his unpublished works from 1792: the first draft of the Trio Op. 3 (see no. 42) and the wind Octet, later to become Op. 103 (see no. 41). Subsequently, Beethoven may have opted to rework the first composition and transpose the second into an instrumental ensemble that would make it more widely known and circulated. This is indeed what happened with the almost immediate publication of the Quintet, while the original Octet was published only three years after the composer’s death, in autumn 1830, under Op. 103. In fact, the Quintet is of a distinctly different nature, not only because of the change in instrumentation but also due to a more refined approach to musical development and a more sophisticated sense of structure, though without any substantial increase in complexity. Beethoven was undoubtedly influenced by the Viennese taste and to some extent by the demands of violinistic technique, but the Octet retains the unpretentiousness of its original instrumental conception. Time, the impartial judge, now allows these two works to stand side by side as distinct historical and artistic documents, without detracting from each other. A characteristic feature of the Quintet is the introduction of a second trio in the Minuet, a new addition.
Origin and Publication: The work was sketched in 1795. It is likely that Artaria received a model for engraving by January 1796, before Beethoven left for Prague and Berlin. The original edition in parts was published by Artaria in Vienna in the spring (?) of 1796.
The Quintet Op. 4 is largely independent from its model, the wind Octet Op. 103, which was probably composed in 1792/93. Beethoven’s “arrangement” is so radical that it constitutes a new composition. “Beethoven no doubt intended Op. 4 to be considered as an independent work” (Lutes/Re-uses S. 36).
For a detailed account written by Franz Gerhard Wegeler and the publication date of the original edition, see Opus 3 on this site.
Sketches: 2nd-4th Set: D-BNba, Coll. Fi. C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 63, one sheet. Date: second half of 1795 (Johnson/Fischhof vol. 1 p. 118; see the earlier date in Küthen/NGA III/2 KB p. 12f), facsimile: DBH/online, facsimile of one page: Beethoven-Haus/chamber music.
It is unclear whether the lot no. 139 from the 1827 auction, purchased by Artaria for 2 fl. 30 kr, referred to Op. 4 or to the Octet Op. 103, which Douglas Johnson believes. It is thought that the autograph of Op. 4 was already lost during the production of the original edition (Johnson/Artaria p. 206).
Parts: CZ-Nlobkowicz, X Hd 59. Dating: around 1796, by two unknown copyists.
Title: Cover title: “Quintetto in re diesis / à 2 Violini / 2 Viole / e / Violoncello / Del Sig. Beethoven.”
Folio 1r: “Quintetto / Violino Primo / Del Sig.re Beethoven,” with the subsequent parts following.
In the H-Bn there is another incomplete set of parts by the same copyists mentioned above (Esterhazy archive, Ms. mus. IV. 420). However, they do not contain any autograph corrections. A copy of the score, in Beethoven’s possession, dated around 1800 and copied from the subsequent corrected editions of the original, is documented in DB (Mus. ms. autogr. Beethoven Artaria 134; copyist G; for both copies, see Kurth/NGA VI/2KB p. 21). In D-B, there is also a set of parts in copy, signed KHM 255, which Beethoven likely took with him to Berlin during his visit in 1796. Both Berlin sources show no signs of revision by the composer.
Third Original Edition (Parts): 1796 (Spring?). Vienna, Artaria & Comp., VN/PN 627.
Title: “Grand / QUINTETTO / per / due Violini, due Viole, e Violoncello / dal Sigr / LUIGI VAN BEETHOVEN / Opera IV. / In Vienna presso Artaria e Comp.”— vertical format. V 1: 11 pages (p. 1 title), V 2: 8 pages, Va 1, 2, Vc: 7 pages each. PN 626 on page 6 of V 1. Advertisements: Journal of Luxury and Fashions 11 (1796); Wiener Zeitung 8 February 1797. (see Op. 3, composition and publication)
Beethoven-Haus Bonn, Sammlung H. C. Bodmer, HCB Mh 63