CXLIV. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)
Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (1825)
Alban Berg Quartett
(15:51)
Originally, this was the finale of the String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130. Beethoven's publishers begged him to publish it separately and write a new finale for the quartet.
Karl Holz, Beethoven's secretary writes:
"[Atraria (Beethoven's publisher) charged me with the terrible and difficult task of convincing Beethoven to compose a new finale, which would be more accessible to the listeners as well as the instrumentalists, to substitute for the fugue which was so difficult to understand. I maintained to Beethoven that this fugue, which departed from the ordinary and surpassed even the last quartets in originality, should be published as a separate work and that it merited a designation as a separate opus. I communicated to him that Artaria was disposed to pay him a supplementary honorarium for the new finale. Beethoven told me he would reflect on it, but already on the next day I received a letter giving his agreement."] ... from the Wikipedia article on this piece, which contains a most detailed attempt at analysis, leaving me free for the moment to simply make some observations:
The new finale for 130 was the last piece of music he ever composed before shaking his fists at the thunder and lightning and becoming immortal.
**
Some reactions -- from long ago and more recently:
Louis Spohr: "an indecipherable, uncorrected horror."
Daniel Gregory Mason: "repellant."
Igor Stravinsky: "an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever."
Glenn Gould: "For me, the 'Grosse Fuge' is not only the greatest work Beethoven ever wrote but just about the most astonishing piece in musical literature."
**
Like the final bars of Opus 131 (Post II), this grandest, greatest and most terrifying of all fugues ends with a bittersweet note of hope, with a touch of resignation to the finality of it all:
No comments:
Post a Comment