Opus 127 String Quartet in E flat major
I) Maestoso – Allegro – II) Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile – III) Scherzando vivace – IV) Finale – Allegro
Opus 127, String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127, dedicated to Prince Nikolaus Galitzin, Spring 1822 – February 1825, published by Schott: separate parts in German and French editions, Mainz and Paris, March 1826; full score, Mainz, June 1826. GA. No. 48 (Series 6/12) – B. 127 – KH. 127 – L. IV, pp. 208 – No. 127 – T. 244.
The original manuscripts are preserved in the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin (first and second movements), in the Rudolf Nydal Collection in Stockholm (third movement), and at the Beethovenhaus (fourth movement). The sketches are provided by Nottebohm. This work marks the beginning of Beethoven’s series of last great quartets, approximately twelve years after the previous Op. 95.
The quartet opens with a brief Maestoso, an affirmation of an expressive principle that we might call “of authority.” This is followed by a responsive Allegro (teneramente), based on two flexible themes of a similar character, as if the second were a continuation or refinement of the first. At the beginning of the development, where these themes appear ever more synthesised and interwoven with one another, and in the recapitulation, the Maestoso returns in a shorter form but in progressively higher keys.
The movement ends with a gradual dispersal of the two elements. It begins with a slow, progressive overlapping of the notes from a cadential harmony, moving from the cello to the viola, then the second violin, and finally to the first violin, resolving into a full, profoundly sweet A-flat major chord, within which, as Chantavoine writes, “the melody gradually rises like a star.” For the third time in the quartets, we encounter a movement in the form of theme and variations; but between this and the two previous examples – the Andante cantabile of Op. 18 No. 5 and the Finale of Op. 74 – there is a significant difference.
In the first variation, the theme already appears transformed into a more animated version, due to a slight melodic modification and the revitalisation of the movement in the parts, while still remaining essentially contemplative in character. The second variation (Andante con moto, 4/4) unfolds in a tender intertwining of the violins over the staccato chords of the viola and cello; the third (Adagio molto espressivo, E major, 4/4) has a transcendent, mystical quality; the fourth (Tempo primo) partly revisits the figuration of the first, but with a distinct instrumental identity.
The fifth variation, introduced by a 13-bar passage in C-sharp minor based on the cadential figure of the theme, unfolds into a linear motion of sextuplets that, at certain points, evokes the Adagio of the Ninth Symphony. A coda, which also invites comparison with the final section of the Adagio of the Ninth, recalls elements from the fourth variation.
The Scherzando vivace, introduced by four staccato pizzicato chords, has as its thematic core in the first two sections a rhythmic motif that alternates between elusive and insinuating, characterised by sudden stops, whispers, pauses, and varying articulations. At a certain point, a few “rough” bars of an Allegro in 2/4 interrupt this, providing contrast. The Trio (Presto, E-flat – D-flat major) similarly recalls the Scherzo from the Eroica, as well as those of the Ninth Symphony and the Op. 130 Quartet; moreover, it includes touches of picturesque realism in a kind of cheerful yet eerie tumult, accentuated by distorted chords and a constant rhythmic alternation of the lower three instruments accompanying the first violin. It evokes forms with a Haydnesque character, though recreated and relived in the spirit, rhythmic material, and harmonic language of Beethoven’s later works: jovial, at times rustic, and not without a certain roughness, following many flights of fancy.
The Allegro comodo that concludes the movement functions as a “stroke of the wing”, due to the episodic shift to a new tonal light in C major, followed by the subsequent elevation and ennobling of the theme, which returns to its original key.
[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 127 Quartett (Es-dur) für zwei Violinen, Viola und Violoncello Widmung: Nikolaus Borisowitsch Fürst Galitzin NGA VI/5 AGA 48 = Serie 6/12
Creation and Publication: The autograph score bears the handwritten date “1824,” with sketches dating from May 1824 to January 1825. The original edition of the parts was published by Schott in Paris and Mainz in March 1826, while the full score followed in June of the same year, published by Schott in Mainz. After the publication of the Quartet Op. 95 in 1816, interest in new string quartets by Beethoven continued. On 22 June 1818, George Thomson requested (unsuccessfully): “Je voudrais beaucoup de voir un Cahier de Quartettos et un Cahier de Trios pour les Violons, Alto et Violoncello, Obligate, composé par vous avec toute la richesse de votre Genie, mais d’une execution facile, particulierement le premier violon” (BGA 1262). In May 1820, Schlesinger of Berlin accepted Beethoven’s offer of 30 April: „auch könnten wir vielleicht mehreres und Größeres unternehmen, etwa Trios oder Quartetten; – Sagen Sie mir hierüber gefallen. Ihre Meinung, um in Fällen Ihrer eingedenk zu sein“ (BGA 1388, 1391). Carl Friedrich Peters of Leipzig, who had requested chamber music for piano from Beethoven in May 1822, received a concrete offer for a string quartet for 50 ducats (BGA 1468). Later, he showed interest only in a piano quartet, and the negotiations fell through. In the months that followed, Pacini in Paris, Schlesinger and his son Maurice also in Paris, and finally, in November 1822, Prince Nikolaus Galitzin of St. Petersburg (BGA 1508) requested new quartets from Beethoven. Galitzin desired “un, deux ou trois Nouveaux Quatuors” and left to Beethoven the task of determining their fee.
On 25 January 1823, Beethoven wrote to the prince, who wanted the works for private use and had accepted the composer’s offer of 50 ducats per quartet, and he committed to completing the first work by the end of February or mid-March (BGA 1535). On 16 July 1823, he informed Ferdinand Ries in London: “Ich schreibe ebenfalls ein neues Violin-Quartett” (BGA 1703). Beethoven also received news via Ries that Charles Neate wished to purchase these new works from him (BGA 1581, 1737). Except for a lone sketch in E-flat major contained in the “Engelmann” sketchbook, written between autumn 1822 and February 1823, there are sketches for several works from 1822/23 without any evidence of a serious working plan for a new quartet. It was only after the major academies of 7 and 23 May 1824 that Beethoven seems to have turned his attention to composing Op. 127. He reported to Prince Galitzin on 26 May: “ihr ihnen so lange versprochenes quartett werden sie bald erhalten vieleicht auch die ändern” (BGA 1841). By mid-December, composition had progressed enough that “nur [in] dem letzten Saze noch etwas zu sch [reiben] sonst ist es vollendet” (BGA 1913 to Schott). Beethoven briefly interrupted the completion of the composition in January and turned his inspiration to a new quartet, Op. 132, for which he sketched the first movement. A first performance of Op. 127 on 23 January 1825 had to be cancelled as the composition was not yet finished. The necessary fair-copy transcriptions of the parts were made available for the performance on 6 March. While Sieghard Brandenburg suggests that Beethoven may have had a personal copy of the score made for his own use, which later became the model for the engraving copy made by Ferdinand Wolanek, Emil Platen finds no evidence for this assumption and presumes that Wolanek’s copy was directly based on the autograph score. Prince Galitzin probably received a copy of the parts on postal paper. On 10 March 1824, Beethoven offered Schott the incomplete quartet (BGA 1787). The Mainz publisher showed immediate interest and requested the manuscript, offering an immediate payment (BGA 1797, 24 March 1824).
A year later, in March 1825, Beethoven transmitted the opus number (BGA 1950), but the copy for the engraver was sent to Mainz only in mid-April 1825 (BKh 7 p. 218 and 401 note 501). The title and dedication were sent to Schott before August 1825 (BGA 2022). Only 13 months later, in September 1826, Beethoven received the proofs and on 27 January 1827 sent a list of corrections (BGA 2200, 2253). The publisher released them around April 1827 in Caecilia (6, 1827, at the end) as “Es ist das in allen Blättern als höchsten Gipfel der Instrumental-Musik angepriesene, viel bewunderte neueste Quartett des ewig unbegreiflichen Meisters unserer Zeit. […] Das Ganze wird noch vor Ende des Jahres ausgegeben”. In the meantime, the composer had passed away.
Dedication: Regarding Prince Galitzin, see Op. 124. — The copy of the parts of the first of the three quartets dedicated to him, sent to the prince, arrived in St. Petersburg in March 1825. The prince confirmed receipt in a letter of 29 April: “J’ai bien des remercimens à vous faire, digne Monsieur de Beethoven, pour le précieux envoi que vous m’avez fait du Sublime quatuor que je viens de recevoir. Je l’ai dejà fait executer plusier fois et j’y reconnais tout le genie du maitre” (BGA 1962). On 21 June, he wrote: “Hier je reçus vôtre derniere lettre du 4 Juin au moment ou nous executions votre noveau quatuor, je puis dire dans la perfezionation, car c’etait M.[onsieur] Lipinski qui remplissait le premier violon” (BGA 1997). First performance on 6 March 1825 in a concert by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in Vienna. The performers were Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Karl Holz, Franz Weiß, and Joseph Linke.
The sketches will be featured in an article specially created for the Beethoven Music Research Center, www.lvbeethoven.org
