Among German musicians, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 2 is sometimes known as the Komplimentierungsquartett for the way that the first movement seems to imitate polite courtly manners “in some never-never-land of rococo fantasy.” (Joseph Kerman “Beethoven Quartets” p. 45)
Although a precedent existed in a finale to Haydn quartet, the Adagio Cantabile movement in Beethoven’s 2nd String Quartet is still quite odd, unexpectedly launching into an Allegro dance before resuming its Adagio tempo, leaving us wondering: What was that? Did it really happen?
In Beethoven’s sketches for his 2nd String Quartet, he indicated that this one was to be lighter than the first except for the finale, but even the finale has much wit in it, establishing momentum only to slow down and get quiet before bouncing back into life.
#Beethoven250 Day 126
String Quartet No. 2 in G Major (Opus 18, No. 2), 1799–1800
New York City’s favorite string quartet, the Attacca (@AttaccaQuartet), has publicly performed the complete string quartets of both Haydn and Beethoven.
Concerning the slow movement in Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 2, William Kinderman writes:
A point of this music is to show how the imagination can negotiate between seemingly incompatible realms, linking strange worlds together in a tensional balance. The somewhat static character of the Adagio Cantabile, with its heavy cadences and portentous pauses, invites juxtaposition with its antipode, the swift and nimble interlude supplied by the Allegro. In this sense, each of the two sections of the movement can be regarded as a complement or critique of the other. The quest for a paradoxical unity of opposites seems all the more fitting here in view of the humorous spirit of the quartet as a whole. (Beethoven p. 64)
Reconciling opposites? Is it really only a coincidence that Hegel was born the same year as Beethoven?