Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 16, Op. 135

- Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (17 December 1770 -- 26 March 1827)
- Performers: Alban Berg Quartett
- Year of recording: 1981

String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, written in 1826.

00:00 - I. Allegretto
06:22 - II. Vivace [Scherzo]
09:50 - III. Lento assai e cantante tranquillo
17:39 - IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro ("Der schwer gefasste Entschluss")

Beethoven wrote the bulk of this, his final quartet, in a two-month burst of activity amid health problems and shortly after his nephew Karl attempted to commit suicide. But there's not a hint of self-pity or anguish in this compact, good-natured work. For Beethoven's valedictory composition, this quartet is surprisingly small-scaled, finding inspiration in the quartets of Beethoven's one-time teacher Haydn.

- The first movement, Allegretto, takes standard sonata form. Its principal theme in 2/4 hints at a march; this, the light textures, and Beethoven's reliance on very short phrases give the movement a playful nature that is emphasized by Beethoven's abrupt melodic and harmonic shifts and frequent interruptions in mid-phrase.
- Beethoven carries this unpredictability over to the second movement, Vivace, which is a scherzo and trio. Again, the overall format is traditional, but the movement abounds in rhythmic asymmetry disrupting the basic 3/4 meter, as well as suddenly modulating chromatic harmonies and melodies being gagged at inopportune moments. It's one of the most comic creations in Beethoven's chamber music.
- In deep contrast is the slow movement, Lento assai cantante e tranquillo. This is a D flat major theme with four variations; variety and development come more through harmonic coloring than motivic manipulation. The second variation slips into a dark C sharp minor, the only spot in this work where listeners obsessed with music as autobiography might find a reflection of Beethoven's troubled life. The third variation returns to the major key for a quiet treatment of the theme in canon between the first violin and cello, and the fourth toys with rhythmic details without disrupting the music's serenity.
- The finale initially seems to be a great, tragic utterance; Beethoven casts the introduction, Grave ma non troppo tratto, in F minor. At the head of the score Beethoven has written, in German, "The difficult decision," and next to the tempo indication are the words "Muss es sein?" (Must it be?). The cello and viola seem to be asking that question in the introduction, but soon the music breaks into an F major Allegro; here, Beethoven has written "Es muss sein!" (It must be!). Those three syllables form the rhythmic basis of the main theme, and seem to be inspired by an exchange between Beethoven and a friend regarding payment of money. The movement proceeds according to sonata structure, spirits remaining high right through the whimsical pizzicato passage that leads to the affirmative final bars.

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