Opus 132: 5 within 5 within 5...?

[PDG]

Originally posted by euphony131:
OK, so shot me `cause I didn't catch your fib. But then again I wasn't the one pretending to be a vainglorious pedant. I only brought up something I thought might be intriguing. I wasn't trying to be some "moralcrusader" as your email address states.

I'm afraid you don't have the credentials to be a Moral Crusader. With my swishing sword & twirling cape I am a special kind of superhero.

Yes, my ABABA assessment may be on the "simplistic" side, but I never said it was an all-encompassing doctrine, just a basic (basic is the word here) breakdown. You can get as pedantic as you want about it but it doesn't change the basic pattern. So take me to the gulliotine just because you made a mistake and I was foolish enough to go along and not correct your lame analysis...I've got better things to do. DUH! DUH! DUH! I quit.

Moral crusaders have little time for quitters; given my public image as a "Good Guy", however, I am prepared to let you off with a lollipop & a pat on the head.

Oh, and I am soooooooo sorry I even attempted to bring up something that might be even remotely interesting. I'll try and be as stale and pedantic and erroneous as possible next time so as to adhere to your own precepts. Or you and Rod like best buddies or what???

Rodney would make an excellent Moral Crusader's assistant; however, just like my pal Doctor Who, I like my helpers to be female (someone has to tidy up & make coffee, for goodness' sake!).

BTW, I read that the basic hymn melody is five phrases long. I suppose that's the fiveth FIVE? Whoopee!!! Hmmmm...five plus five equals PDG's I.Q.? Ahhhhhh...there's our connection. Wonderful. Everything's settled now. Goodnight.

A Moral Crusader's IQ registers on the Richter Scale, & he always retains his dignity when unruly euphonic types taunt him (either that, or he zaps them with his civility ray). Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.


Peace in the neighbourhood.

[This message has been edited by PDG (edited 06-22-2001).]

[Bob the Composer]

OK, here it is. I was unable to get you all my post word for word, but here's the basics of what I wrote, with some new ideas I got yesterday while listening to this quartet. The first movement could be referred to as the quartet's oveture. Several musical ideas from this movement recur in later movements. The second movement is far more gentle and has a trio whose use of repetition is similar to the the corresponding section of the 9th symphony's 2nd movement. The trio ends with a fierce passage reminicent of the first movement's opening subject. I'll start my comments on the third movement by saying that despite the heading, I think Beethoven was thinking more about death than recovery. I base this opinion off of two things. First, there is the A section's overall sadness. Second there is the fact that the B sections, which are more joyful images of life, both end very reluctantly, as if the composer does not want to leave them behind. This may seem a lot like Euphony's comments, but I think it possible that there may be a deeper meaning by putting what is basically an ABABA movement in the middle of a five movement quartet. It speaks on the larger structure of the quartet, for which in mood and structure, Mv 1,3,5 are A sections which share somewhat the first movements opening subject (more so than the other two movements) and Mv 2,4 are both far more pleasant than 1,3,5. The 4th movement starts out as a march, but get's more passionate, and leads directly into the 5th movement, which is a Waltz. As far as I know, this is the only one he ever wrote, and this perhaps deserves attention. Why did he choose to write a waltz as the finale? It is possible, I believe, that he wanted to have a certain amount of lightness in the movement despite it's serious tone to make way for the finale, which gives us a happy ending. If anyone else has anything to add, feel free to do so, I am not infallible.

Bob

------------------
I am not a number, I am a free man!

[PDG]

The Finale of op.132 is surely one of Beethoven's greatest movements. Emotionally supercharged, melodically glorious, rhythmically irresistable, & so profound that it sounds both sad & happy simultaneously. To my ears, it achieves the near-impossible in that it seems to unify the prior uncertainties of direction in the Quartet, while still leaving the work magically imbued in mystery. The coda is astonishingly life-affirming, typically snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.