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Quartet No.16 in B-flat major, op.133 (The Grand Fugue) Ludwig van Beethoven

This movement was originally the final part of the quartet op. 130 in B-flat major. Complying with the wishes of the Austrian publisher Artaria (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon"), a new finale was composed. Beethoven's contemporaries rejected the work, even Hugo Wolf (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon/Encyclopedia for Austria") said in 1884: "For me the Grand Fugue is an incomprehensible composition." The work came to be understood and recognized only in our century. One reason for this acceptance may have been the new way of performing the work - the use of a string orchestra. Originally there existed only a string quartet version, just with two double bass. In a string orchestra the sound loses its sharpness, interval frictions appear milder, the polyphonic character of the work becomes more convincing, the general impression is more mellow. Beethoven composed the finale in November 1825 (cf. Beethoven's situation in 1825/26).

Adaptations

The string orchestra version is not by Beethoven, he himself wrote a four-hand adaptation of the fugue for piano as op.134.

Dedicatee

The newly arranged work was dedicated to Cardinal Archduke Rudolf of Austria, Archbishop of Olmütz/Olomouc.

Beethoven's own comment

Beethoven only noted: "Grande Fugue tantót libre, tantót recherchée = Grand Fugue, as free as artistic. "Free" means the independent treatment of the form, "artistic" refers to the stylistic components.

The Grand Fugue is difficult to absorb. Tchaikovsky remarked: "There is a glimmer, but not more. The rest is chaos, above which the spirit of this musical Jehova is hovering." The chaotic impression is due to

• the permanent use of distant intervals in the various instruments
• bizarre rhythms
• the consistent use of polyphony
• extremely dynamic notations - mostly either fortissimo or pianissimo.

Beethoven did not intend to copy Bach's style, but he wanted to show up a solution to the problem how music could develop a more unified, spiritualised "language" by means of polyphony.
The Grand Fugue is typical of Beethoven's attitude to sound at a time when he was completely deaf. The quartet tries to give the individual voices the greatest possible volume so as to create an overwhelming effect. The harmony of the sound is subordinated to the clear profile of the individual voices and their musical importance. A climax of expressive music within Beethoven's last quartets has been reached.

Music examples from the Quartet No.16, op. 133

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