DLX. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: String Quartet #3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3

DLX. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

String Quartet #3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3 (1798-1800)
1. Allegro
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro
4. Presto
Kiyoshi Hayashi, violin
Alejandro Valdepenas, violin
Aria Cheregosha, viola
Clare Bradford, cello
(26:05)

Despite its publication as the third of the set of six, this was the first quartet that Beethoven composed. He did not embark upon the task lightly -- he carefully studied many works of Haydn and Mozart in preparation for the daunting form.

In this D Major delight, we have one of his finest early works:

First movement

Two 1/2-notes describing a minor seventh indicate the dominant, moving to the tonic in bar two. Later, he'll use both a minor third and perfect fourth in similar fashion:

A modulation to C Major:

These intense C-Sharp Major bars lead back to the tonic for only the briefest moment!

The secondary theme appears in F Major and then in E-Flat Major:

Second movement

which makes the move to B-Flat Major less surprising (and the two motifs are vaguely related):

A lovely sweeping cello/viola run in thirds (note the E-Flat/D clash!) and a bunch of fake-out modulations, first to B-Flat, then E-Flat and finally a brief stop on D-Flat Major.

Third movement

A lovely little scherzo. Look how D Major turns into an implied B Minor by the final F-Sharp Major false dominant in the final bar of the repeat!

The Trio is in the minor, and the movement returns to the major for its conclusion.

Fourth movement

Amusingly -- and certainly coincidentally -- the first nine notes are the same as the Mexican Hat Dance!