Opus 95 String Quartet in F minor for 2 violins, viola, and cello
I) Allegro con brio – II) Allegretto ma non troppo – III) Allegro assai vivace ma serioso – IV) Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato
Opus 95 String Quartet in F minor for two violins, viola, and cello, op. 95, dedicated to Nicolaus Zmeskall von Domanovetz, October 1810, published in separate parts in Vienna by Steiner, September 1816; in full score by Offenbach s/m, André, August 1835. GA. no. 47 (series 6/11) – B. 95 – KH. 95 – L. Ili, p. 260 – N. 95 – T. 161.
The original manuscript is held in the National Library of Vienna; Nottebohm discusses sketches contemporaneous with others for Egmont and for the Trio in B flat major, op. 97.
The music of this work is, one might say, the most sparse encountered in Beethoven’s quartets: “the search for a concentrated, reduced expression of thought, the simplest yet most expressive thematic material; a strictly measured use of means,” wrote Helm, a sentiment echoed by De Marliave in his commentary. This may explain the designation of “Serious Quartet” given to it in the aforementioned manuscript. None of the various sections of the Allegro con brio—exposition, development, recapitulation—bear the marks of a refrain.
To the main theme, which could be described as “agitated with anger,” are interspersed elements of a relaxed, submissive melodic line, tinged with a hint of anguish. The second theme in D flat major has the effect of a pale smile of affection, yet it is pierced, like a sudden contraction of expression, by an uneasy figure in triplets initially entrusted to the viola. The contrast becomes more pronounced in the brief development. After the recapitulation, the coda unfolds an agitated figure based on a fragment from the first part of the initial theme; in the conclusion, the violent assertion gradually diminishes, extinguished in the final cadential inflection.
The consoling spirit has not triumphed, but the original sentiment has, in some way, softened or sweetened. Unless one wishes to see it merely as a corrective to the not infrequent playful, and at times somewhat irreverent, allusions by the master to Zmeskall, almost suggesting that this time he had thought of him seriously. The Allegretto, not overly so, emerges from a sphere of serenity, although a certain restless fantasy passes through it with a breath of sadness. In the second theme, articulated by the viola and developed in a fugal form, a subtle disturbance creeps in, and the spirit alternates between moments of yearning and others of despair and doubt. The return of the initial section this time instills a more stable sense of calm; a suspended chord prevents the final notes in pianissimo from settling into complete rest; thus, after a crowned point, it seamlessly transitions into the third movement (Allegro assai vivace ma serioso).
The harsh onset of the insistent hammered figure of the theme recalls the mood of the first movement; it is, in fact, materially akin in rhythm and expressive character to the second element of the initial theme. The Trio possesses an original, mysterious character: composed of a kind of figured chorale, as Helm and De Marliave call it: “It seems to have come from another world, a solemn, sorrowful song resonates (in the three lower instruments), accompanied by celestial harps” (the legato figuration of the first violin).
The Finale (Allegretto agitato), preceded by a poignant introduction (Larghetto), is also characterised by restless figurations: less tormented, however, and in some respects reminiscent of themes from the second movement of the Quartet op. 59 no. 2 (perhaps also from the Finale of the Violin Concerto and Orchestra op. 61), lending a romantic character even to the more elaborative or developmental episodes.
In the end, a simple yet expressive harmonic transition in pianissimo leads into the Allegro in F major, which possesses an airy lightness, where every sentiment of sadness or unease fades away, as if in a sudden final resolution. Schering cites Otello as the primary source of inspiration and guidance for this work. First movement: Act IV, Scene II: A terrible outburst of passion from Otello. Desdemona: “My lord, what is your will?” Otello: “Please, child, come here.” Second movement: Act IV, Scene III: Desdemona’s conversation with Emilia, a melancholic song by Desdemona. Third movement: Act V, Scene II: Otello in the bedroom before the sleeping Desdemona. Monologue. He kisses her and weeps. Fourth movement: Continuation of the previous scene. Despair. The murder of Desdemona. The apotheosis of innocence (the latter imagined by Beethoven as the epilogue to the tragedy).
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Official title: Opus 95 Quartett (f-moll) Quartetto serioso für zwei Violinen, Viola und Violoncello Widmung: Nikolaus Paul Zmeskall von Domanovecz und Lestine NGA VI/4 AGA 47 = Serie 6/11
Origin and Publication: Composed in Vienna during the summer/autumn of 1810. The surviving sketches date from June of that year. The original edition in parts was published by Steiner & Comp. in Vienna in December 1816. Sieghard Brandenburg and Alan Tyson assumed that the surviving autograph score was probably not produced until 1814, and that it may have been copied from an earlier, now lost, manuscript bearing the note “1810 im Monath Oktober”. Seow-Chin P. Ong, on the other hand, argues that no earlier autograph ever existed, and that the surviving manuscript does indeed date from 1810.
The score was in the possession of the dedicatee, Nikolaus Zmeskall, by 1813. In May of that year Beethoven asked Zmeskall to make a copy of the quartet, which the composer intended to present to Count Brunsvik (BGA 650). This probably took place at the end of August or beginning of October 1813. Beethoven wrote: “das Quartett war dir ja so früher zugedacht, bloß meine Unordnung war schuld daran, daß du es eben erst bey diesem Ereigniß erhalten” (BGA 665) — “The quartet was indeed intended for you long ago; only my disorder was to blame that you have received it only now, on this occasion.”
Another copy, which Beethoven gave to Charles Neate for London in February 1816, has been lost (BGA 896, 6 February 1816).
Original Vienna edition: Like the neighbouring Opp. 91–93 and 96–97, Op. 95 belongs to a group of works Beethoven gave to the Viennese publisher Steiner with the intention of publication in April 1815 (see Op. 91). At the beginning of September 1816 Beethoven received the first proofs of Op. 95 for correction. The composer requested the manuscript from Steiner, writing: “wegen der Partitur des 4tets ist der Adjutant [Tobias Haslinger] immer noch in Verdacht, ich empfehle daher die strengste Untersuchung, ich habe es hier angesehn, ohne Partitur kanns nicht corrigirt werden” (BGA 967) — “The adjutant [Tobias Haslinger] is still under suspicion regarding the score of the quartet; I therefore recommend the strictest investigation — I have seen it here, and it cannot be corrected without the score.”
The work was announced in the Wiener Zeitung on 21 December 1816, together with Opp. 92 and 96–100, as “entirely new and available”, but only Op. 95 was described as “entirely new” in mid-December. After the printed edition appeared at the beginning of December, Beethoven sent Steiner further requests for correction, which the publisher was reluctant to carry out. One letter reads: “Noch einige Fehler des q.[uartetts] sind zu verbeßern. wann folgt das Verzeichniß der Fehler in der Partitur den Stimmen, u. Quartet-Stim-men — man schläft – ich werde schon zur Beförderung in Donner u. Bliz erscheinen müßen” (BGA 1023). And in another: “Es war ausgemacht daß in allen fertigen Exemplaren des quartets etc die Fehler solten korrigirt werden, dessen ohngeachtet besizt der Adjutant die Unverschämtheit selbe uncorrigirt zu verkaufen; dieses werde ich noch heute zu ahnden u. zu bestrafen wissen, mit den Verzeichnißen wird wie ich merke nur spott getrieben, allein ich werde auch hier wißen, was mir meine Ehre gebiethet u. gewiß nichts nachgeben” (BGA 1024).
Alan Tyson was able to demonstrate that numerous errors were corrected in pencil and ink in a surviving copy, and that further corrections to the plates were made both in the original edition and in later impressions. According to Jonathan Del Mar, the original edition is extremely inaccurate.
Dedication:Nikolaus Paul Zmeskall von Domanovecz und Lestine, born (baptised) on 20 November 1759 in Lestine, Hungary (today Lestiny, Slovakia), and died on 23 June 1833 in Vienna. Zmeskall arrived in Vienna in 1783/84, after completing his legal training and passing the bar examination. He was initially employed in the Tax Office of the Chancellery of the Royal Hungarian Court. In 1786 he was appointed draftsman; by the end of 1803 he had become secretary, and from 1807 director of protocol with the rank of Court Secretary in the Hungarian Court Chancellery. From 1816 he held the title of Hofrat (Court Councillor), retiring in 1825.
Zmeskall was also a cellist and composer, a concert organiser, and a founding member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. He was on friendly terms with many Viennese musicians; for example, Haydn dedicated to him the six string quartets Op. 20 (Hob. III:31–36). Zmeskall was one of Beethoven’s earliest and most intimate friends (the first surviving letter is dated 18 June 1793, BGA 8). He performed numerous services and errands for the composer. The two probably met at the house of Prince Lichnowsky. Their close friendship, however, came to an end around 1817/18, probably owing to the severe gout from which Zmeskall suffered.
When sending Zmeskall the original edition of Op. 95, Beethoven wrote on 16 December 1816: “Hier lieber Z erhalten sie meine Freundschaftliche Widmung, die ich wünsche, daß ihnen ein liebes Andenken unserer hier lange waltenden Freundschaft seyn möge, u. als einen beweiß meiner Achtung aufzunehmen, u. nicht als das Ende eines schon lange gesponnenen Fadens, (denn Sie gehören zu meinen frühesten Freunden in Vien,) zu betrachten” (BGA 1014).
(“Here, dear Z[meskall], you receive my friendly dedication, which I hope will be a fond memento of our long-standing friendship here, and may be accepted as a token of my respect, not as the end of a long-spun thread, for you belong among my earliest friends in Vienna.”)
Zmeskall bequeathed his string quartet instruments and compositions — including fourteen string quartets — to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Beethoven received from him a copy of the solo part of Op. 80 with a personal dedication. From a letter to Breitkopf & Härtel dated 15 October 1810 (BGA 474), it appears that Beethoven also considered dedicating the Mass Op. 86 to Zmeskall. For two humorous compositions found in letters, see WoO 101 and 205a. The „Duett mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern“ WoO 32 was probably intended for Zmeskall as well.
First performance: Unknown. According to Anton Schindler, the Schuppanzigh Quartet performed Op. 95 at a matinée in Vienna in May 1814.
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethovenian Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
