beethoven, string quartet in b-flat major, op. 18 no. 6

Yet, as was so often the case with this composer, his simplicity has a sophistication.

The second movement is an Adagio of great beauty and simplicity. After the development concludes, the main material is heard again and the movement ends. There is a clever little joke that occurs in the latter part, when the music unexpectedly stops dead, suddenly capturing the attention of the listener.

Here, the music becomes a little more serious, even tense. The material is repeated, after which the development section ensues. The second theme is less driven and takes on an almost stately character at the outset, but eventually turns effervescent and manic. The joyful main theme contains that already characteristic Beethovenian urgency. The first movement is marked Allegro con brio, and while it hardly introduces anything innovative, it does present some musical merrymaking. Still, both groups of quartets are worthwhile, and the Sixth especially, in its second and fourth movements, offers glimpses of the mature Beethoven. But there may have been another reason he arranged them so: the last three all contain substantial references to the past, the Fourth and Fifth showing deference to Mozart and the Sixth appearing as a patchwork of compositions out of Beethoven's own past. The reason the composer changed the order was apparently due to the character of the quartets: the first three generally adhere to traditional forms, while the latter group are fairly unorthodox and varied in style. The third actually appears to have been composed first. While that might appear obvious in perusing the headnote, in actuality the numbers in this collection do not necessarily correspond to their order of composition since Beethoven reordered all six works after finishing them in 1800. This was the last of the group of six quartets in the Op.

Beethoven, string quartet in b-flat major, op. 18 no. 6