For your blog post due Monday, January 20 at 9 am, please consider
our class demonstration as led by Prof. Docter and her students from the String
Quartet Intensive from the afternoon on Friday, January 17, and comment in
250-500 words on the following points:
· What did you know
about today’s subject before the listening and/or discussion session?
· What did you find
most surprising about today’s subject?
· What would you
like to know more about after experiencing today’s class?
Your post should be placed directly in the comments to this blog
entry, and is due at 9 am on Monday, January 20.
I haven’t spent much time listening to Beethoven’s string quartets, or really any other string quartets, for that matter. My ear hasn’t quite developed for me to frequent listening to string quartets; I think as a wind player I’m a bit biased to stick to my roots, and I like hearing a wider variety of timbres in such a small ensemble. I did know that Beethoven was a violist, which made me surprised that Professor Docter said that he didn’t write very many good viola parts in his quartets.
ReplyDeleteSomething I found very interesting about Friday’s class was how Op. 18 No. 1 Mvmt. ii was based off of the tomb scene from Romeo and Juliet. I’m always very interested in how works are adapted into different mediums– especially Shakespeare. I thought it was interesting how Beethoven wrote one particular movement in the string quartet based off of one particular scene in the play; this is extremely fragmented, and makes me wonder why Beethoven chose this scene in particular to se.
I also thought it was very interesting how Beethoven threw all of the rules out of the window in his later quartets. Before this class, I didn’t realize that there were essentially two periods of Beethoven’s string quartets, and that they contrasted so much. Op. 31, for example: seven movements in one string quartet must have seemed almost obscene for the time.
One thing I’d like to know more about is other instrumentations Beethoven wrote for. We’ve looked at string quartets and symphonies, and mentioned briefly his many piano sonatas, but I wonder if there are any interesting instrumentations he wrote for less frequently.
Before Friday’s session, I've hardly ever heard of Beethoven's string quartets. The only quartet I’ve ever been exposed to is opus 133, the Grosse Fugue, which confused me a lot. I could not understand the never-ending sentences and overlapping voices when I first heard the music, and it gave me the impression that because Beethoven is the figure who always wanted to break through the limits, he would compose all his quartets extremely complicated, just like the Grosse Fugue.
ReplyDeleteIn that case, I was really surprised to hear a typical, classic, and elegant string quartet at the beginning of the class, which was written in Beethoven’s earlier time. As introduced by Prof. Kirsten Docter and the quartet members, this quartet, opus 18 no.2, is mostly take off from Haydn and Mozart, in a standard four movements, sonata style, and euphonious atmosphere. Prof. Docter uses an interesting metaphor that this quartet is an afternoon tea. The violins, violas, and cellos are mostly agreeable with each other. There are sometimes arguments and situations of two against two, but generally, it is a peaceful piece. Opus 18 no 4 has a scherzo a really slow, which is not normal as before. Opus 18 no 1 --- although it is no.1, the quartet is actually composed after no.2 --- uses a tune from Romeo and Juliet, which is dark and slow, full of sorrow. The whole movement is in a quiet atmosphere that challenges the performers a lot since it is really hard to play soft on the string instruments.
The first three quartets are all pleasant and easier for the audience, but there’s a huge gap from opus 18 to opus 133. Even after years of learning in the conservatory, I’m still struggling in understanding this one, but thankfully Prof.Docter and the quartets analyze it for us, which helps me a lot. The idea that the first 30 measures of this piece have already contained all the motives and ideas of the whole piece is fascinating. All the motives that appeared later are actually developing based on the previous foundations. Among the piece the dynamics are always in extreme, it is rather pianissimo or fortissimo. The dotted rhythm is also a pattern that could be tracked down for. Still, it is a challenging piece for both the musicians and the audience, and I need more time and knowledge to understand it.
After this class, I’m more interested in the Grosse Fugue now. How could Beethoven compose the ninth symphony and this quartet at the same time with such distinct differences? What kind of musical idea he was expecting to express at that time?
I grew up listening to Beethoven’s string quartets, and I have played 59/1 and part of 95. I was very familiar with the concept of chamber music and the particular challenges of string quartet playing, so most things from Friday were familiar to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me was Professor Docter suggesting that Beethoven might have moved on to a fourth compositional style period had he lived longer. I’d never heard that before, and now I really want to know what that would have sounded like. Too bad I’ll never really know, but I can study the late quartets to get some idea.
I’d like to learn more about the late quartets by listening to them and studying the scores. I’ve listened to 135 (the last one) twice today. It often sounds more like Hindemith, Bartok, and Shostakovich than any of Beethoven’s more immediate successors ever did. When I was little, I didn’t notice how out of time these pieces were. They were simply another kind of Beethoven to me. Now, after not hearing them for a while, and especially after spending two weeks with the more straightforward symphonies, I’m listening to them with new ears. The language of Beethoven’s heroic harmonies and form is set stronger within me, so I can feel the contrast rather than just notice it. I want to spend some time learning the language of the late quartets.
I was really happy to hear from Professor Docter on Friday regarding the Beethoven string quartets. I have heard many of the quartets before, especially here at Oberlin in the recent chamber fest, where many chamber groups played a movement of one of Beethoven’s works. Most of the quartets I have heard bits and pieces of, but not in their entirety, and I hadn’t thought about the quartets in relationship to Beethoven’s three periods before.
ReplyDeleteIt was most surprising to hear the difference between the craziness of the Great Fugue in the later quartet and the sounds of the various op. 18 quartets. In the early quartets, I could definitely hear the multiple influences of the classical period – Haydn and Mozart, of course – and Beethoven’s own impulses to find deeper musical meaning and profundity. In the Great Fugue, however, classical influence was deeply hidden. I was shaken by the roughness of it, the intervals had sharp edges, as did the lines among the players, and the principal material was really easy to lose in the mess. What Professor Docter pointed out about the fugue helped immensely, though, and otherwise I would have been totally lost.
I want to learn more about the other quartets…although we got a nice overview, I think there is so much more for me to understand about the progression of his writing over time for which the quartet publications are great landmarks. I will definitely listen to the others on my own time so that I can have this experience. I’d also be interested in knowing how the orchestration of his string quartet music broke norms – if at all – with the traditional orchestration methods of the classical era, and how his string quartet music influenced future compositions.
Prior to the demonstration in Friday’s class, I had heard many string quartets. I’ve heard Ravel’s, some of Haydn’s, Beethoven’s, and Dvorak’s quartets. I feel like our string quartet demonstration was a nice contrast to listening to symphonies the last few weeks, and a great learning experience. To get a sense of Beethoven’s style, or that of any composer, for that matter, one must listen to and learn about a wide range of his/her works.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Prof. Docter said about Beethoven’s use of the string quartet genre as opposed to the symphony. A string quartet allowed Beethoven to express personal, intimate thoughts and sentiments. It allowed him to adopt a conversational rhetoric, and, to the audience, his string quartets (especially the early ones) are almost musical representations of “tea with friends.” Since there are so few instruments, Beethoven can create a sense of dialogue between his instruments, because the sounds are “texturally” separated. In a symphony, however, the texture is homogenous and grand (except, as we learned in Prof. Plank’s discussion, the historically informed performances nowadays highlight textural differences). In symphonies, Beethoven had to emphasize the emotional contrasts and drama, because it is a less intimate experience by nature. A symphony is more of an overt exhibition than a string quartet, which is a conversation.
I didn’t know that the second movement of Beethoven’s op. 18 no. 1 was inspired by the tomb scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I love learning about works that borrow upon other art forms, like poetry, painting and literature. As I’ve grown up, I have enjoyed and been influenced by all of these art forms. When I create interpretations of musical works, they require study and analysis, as well as artistic inspiration, which I have obtained from a variety of art forms.
Except for the Grosse Fuge*, which I have heard many times, we heard Beethoven’s early string quartets. The Grosse Fuge is such a unique piece, because it incorporates so much dissonance and nonconformity with tonal conventions. It also stands out because it expresses anger for such a long time (Beethoven wrote relentless f and ff markings for 6 minutes of music!). Even though its expressive qualities are so surreal and bordering on obscene, the compositional “material” Beethoven uses is minimal, similar to the First Symphony as we discussed with Prof. Ristow—this is Beethoven’s fingerprint that was set early in his life in the 1st. The central motif is the eight-note first subject in dotted-half notes. (Beethoven also uses this theme in many other late pieces, particularly quartets. It can be likened to a favorite character, like Nick Adams, who recurs in Ernest Hemingway’s fiction.) The second subject is the uncanny, dramatic leaping motif with dotted-rhythm. The only other major motif is the main theme of the Andante section. All else is episodic material, derivative of the three main motifs. Even with this simplicity of form, he achieves a cacophonic “screaminess” with, first of all, the incessant f/ff indications, and secondly, the rhythmic juxtaposition of triplets on duples. The tonal dissonance also contributes to the discordant sense in the piece. I am eager to hear more about my classmates’ and Prof. Docter’s students’ ideas on the interpretation of the Grosse Fuge.
Overall, I loved Prof. Docter’s demonstration and discussion of Beethoven’s string quartets. I love the string quartet genre, and it is nice to hear students perform these and elaborate on their learning process.
*It just so happened that, last Friday, on Performance Today, they performed the Grosse Fuge—what a cool coincidence!
To start, I'm fairly unfamiliar with string quartets, whether they be written by Beethoven or anybody else. As such, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Friday's series of string quartet performances played by the other winter term students. That they were beautiful is obvious. I thought it was interesting how much the viola and a lack of strong parts for the viola was discussed that class. I hadn't realized that Beethoven did not write much for the viola, just like he didn't write much for the trombone.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised that, rather than let the public give his string quartet a nickname, Beethoven himself attached one of his pieces to the story of Romeo and Juliet. I can't remember which it was or I'd look up the date on it because I find it interesting how the connection of the song with a narrative goes against some of the rationalist ideas that, as I heard in a previous lecture, Beethoven was quite fond of. Were any of these quartets done as commissions or were they all made with no specific end in sight other than to satisfy artistic rather than monetary goals?
I wasn’t very familiar with Beethoven’s string quartets before class Friday. After only hearing his symphonic works this month, it was really interesting to hear Beethoven in a chamber music setting and how similar the string quartets were to his symphonies. I wasn’t surprised to hear that he messed with sonata form and created music that is distinctly Romantic, but I had not heard most of the quartets before, and I certainly had not paid too much attention to them. Professor Docter’s insights into these works was very helpful with understanding the works of Beethoven more fully- I feel as though I have a broader context for learning about his symphonies.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to hear that Beethoven based a string quartet on Romeo and Juliet. I had only learned about the larger works of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev about Romeo and Juliet. I didn’t know Beethoven was interested in Shakespeare, even if he was just interested enough to write one movement for his works. It makes me wonder further about Beethoven and programmatic music, as well as how his relationship to programmatic music influenced composers like Berlioz, who often wrote with blatant programmaticism.
Professor Docter mentioned briefly that one of the quartets, Op. 18, coincided with Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 2. It’d be interesting to learn more about the string quartets through Beethoven’s life. How did his quartets change in his middle and late periods? I’d also like to hear about performance practice of these string quartets. Professor Docter and the string quartets discussed how they interpret Beethoven’s music, and I’m wondering how much of their interpretation is informed by historical performance.