Beethoven’s Great Fugue is as anomalous in the history of music as the Antikythera Mechanism is in the history of technology. It is hard to believe that it was composed in 1825, and yet — there it is.
After Beethoven submitted a new finale for the Opus 130 String Quartet, the Grosse Fuge was effectively liberated to exist on its own. After Beethoven’s death, it was published as Opus 133. Like the Opus 134 four-hand arrangement, it was dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph.
While it is now common to perform the Opus 130 String Quartet with the original Grosse Fuge finale, it is also common to perform the Great Fugue independently on its own. This practice allows the work to receive the full undivided attention that it deserves.
#Beethoven250 Day 364
Grosse Fuge in B♭ Major (Opus 133), 1825
The Danish String Quartet performing in the late evening against the New York City night sky at Lincoln Center. This concert was reviewed in the New York Times
The guided tour that follows is just a brief sketch of the major themes and events of the Great Fugue. All timing is based on the Danish String Quartet video. The descriptions also reference some rehearsal letters A through N that appear in the score.
My analysis has been influenced by Lewis Lockwood (Beethoven, pp. 458–468), Angus Watson (Beethoven’s Chamber Music in Context, pp. 256–261), and Sydney Grew’s “The ‘Grosse Fuge’: An Analysis”.
The Great Fugue begins with a section entitled Overtura, in which Beethoven lays out some of the themes that he will use throughout the work, but in reverse order from their later appearance. There are five such themes, and I will give them somewhat descriptive names.
Four of these five themes are built from semitone intervals, grouped in pairs usually separated by almost an octave but not quite. These themes are similar but vary in rhythm and tempo. The semitone intervals account for much of the dissonance in the work.
At 0:09 in this Danish String Quartet video, the theme I’ll call Ominous is introduced. The first violin plays these four pairs of semitone intervals: G, G♯, up to F, E, back down to G♯, A, then up to F♯, G with a trill:
At 0:19, we hear a theme in iambic rhythm, which I’ll refer to as SamIambic. The first eight note values are the same as Ominous; the second set are shifted down but not uniformly:
At 0:29 the tempo slows down to Meno mosso e moderato (“less movement and moderate”), and we hear a theme I’ll call Yearning. Here, only three of the four interval pairs are semitones: F, G♭, up to E♭, D♭ (not a semitone), down to E, F, up to E, F.
At 0:41, we hear a little variation of the Yearning theme in the cello (G, G♯, up to E♭, D, down to F♯, G, up to E, F), while the other strings introduce the Ripples theme, which is the one that is most different from the other four:
At 0:56, the tempo is back to Allegro and the first violin plays a tune I’ll call BabySteps. If you ignore the ties and repeats, it’s another set of four semitone intervals: B♭, B, up to A♭, G down to B, C, up to A, B♭:
At 1:10, the first big double-fugue section entitled Fuga begins with an energetic dotted-rhythm theme that I’ll call Leaping, for the leaps it makes at the beginning. The theme continues mostly with a downward scale:
At first, the viola plays the BabySteps theme in counterpoint, but the two themes are traded off between the four instruments, and at 1:58, the violin gives birth to triplets. This is where the first rehearsal letter of A appears in the score.
Shortly after 3:24 (rehearsal letter C in the score), a non-dotted anapestic theme is also introduced. At 4:16 (corresponding to rehearsal letter D), the use of triplets seems to convert the meter to 12/8, but with persistent hemiola effects.
At 4:55, the tempo changes to Meno mosso e moderato as in the Overtura for a slow double fugato. Starting with a few fragments, we now hear the Ripples theme, first in the first violin, then the second when the viola begins playing the Yearning them.
At 7:08 (rehearsal letter E), the cello begins playing the Ripples theme for the first time, while the first violin discovers a little melody we haven’t heard before. The Ripples theme becomes dominant, and then slowly dissipates.
At 8:10, the meter changes to 6/8, the tempo to Allegro, and we’re in a short episode usually referred to as a March but sometimes a Scherzo. Regardless what it’s called, here we hear the SamIambic theme for the first time since the Overtura.
By this point, you’re probably wondering “When will we hear the Ominous theme again?” That happens at 8:41 (rehearsal letter F). We’re still in Allegro 6/8, and another fugue begins with the Ominous theme in the cello, and then moving up the staves.
At 9:22 (rehearsal letter G), everybody gets fixated on the last few notes of the Ominous theme, and an orgy of trills results.
At 9:42 (8 measures before rehearsal letter H), the second violin introduces a 6/8 theme that elicits some interest for a while, and the Ominous theme is heard again, and another orgy of trills.
At 10:32, a fantasy interlude section begins based on the SamIambic rhythm combined with elements of the Leaping theme. At 11:06, it seems like a fugue will develop on the first couple notes of the Ominous theme, but that doesn’t happen.
At 11:40, the meno mosso tempo returns. This is a short reprise of the earlier meno mosso section with the Ripples and Yearning themes. It is followed at 12:18 with a sparse transition that gradually creeps up in tempo.
At 12:50 begins a short reprise of the 6/8 March with the SamIambic theme, which leads into the first coda at 13:14 (rehearsal letter L). After a little pizzicato, a section starting at 13:48 (rehearsal letter M) sure sounds like it’s going to reprise, but it’s just some coda fun.
It’s time to revisit some of our favorite attractions: At 14:35 is a short 4/4 Allegro section with the Leaping theme, and at 14:42 is a short 2/4 meno mosso with the Rippling theme. A second coda begins at 14:50. The Ominous theme is extended in length but abandoned.
At 15:23 (rehearsal letter N) some playful interchange of trills begins until the “coda’s coda” kicks in at 15:34. The violin plays around with the Leaping theme that then becomes part of the closing chords, and the Great Fugue comes to a thrilling conclusion.
#Beethoven250 Day 364
Grosse Fuge in B♭ Major (Opus 133), 1825
As a complementary analysis, a demystification by Richard Atkinson with extensive discussion and use of color coding to illustrate the contrapuntal themes within the score.