The String Quartet No. 1 in
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
,
Op. 18, No. 1, was written by
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
between 1798 and 1800, published in 1801, dedicated to the
Bohemian aristocrat
Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz
Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled ''Lobkowicz'') (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816 . It is actually the second
string quartet that Beethoven composed.
The quartet consists of four movements:
#
Allegro con brio (
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
)
#
Adagio
Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to:
Music
* Adagio, a tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner
* Adagio (band), a French progressive metal band
Albums
* ''Adagi ...
affettuoso ed appassionato (
D minor)
#
Scherzo
A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often re ...
: Allegro molto (F major)
# Allegro (F major)
According to
Karl Amenda, Beethoven's friend, the second movement was inspired by the tomb scene from
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet''. The quartet was heavily revised between the version that Amenda first received and the one that was sent to the publisher a year later, including changing the second movement's marking from ''Adagio molto'' to the more specific ''Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato''. Of these modifications, Beethoven wrote: "Be sure not to hand on to anybody your quartet, in which I have made some drastic alterations. For only now have I learnt to write quartets; and this you will notice, I fancy, when you receive them."
The theme of the finale is almost directly borrowed from the finale of his earlier string trio, Op. 9, No. 3 in C minor; the themes are very closely related. The principal theme of the first movement echoes that of Mozart's Violin Sonata No. 32 K. 454 (1784) and
Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
's 1787 String Quartets, Op. 50 (Haydn), Opus 50, No. 1 quartet.
The "Amenda" manuscript, as it is sometimes known, was edited by Paul Mies and published by Bärenreiter around 1965, and by Henle-Verlag of Munich (perhaps also edited by Mies) in 1962. This early version of one of Beethoven's best-known works has been recorded perhaps less than a half-dozen times as of July 2014.
In popular culture
The second movement is used in the soundtrack to the 2015 film ''The Lobster''.
Notes
References
*
* (Especially the essay by Michael Steinberg (music critic), Michael Steinberg, pp. 150–155.)
Further reading
*Whiting, Stephen M. (Fall 2018). "Beethoven Translating Shakespeare: Dramatic Models for the Slow Movement of the String Quartet Op. 18, No. 1." Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 795–838.
External links
*
Programme notes on the Beethoven string quartetsby the British broadcaster and composer Robert Simpson (composer), Robert Simpson
String quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven, String quartet 01
1800 compositions
Compositions in F major
Music with dedications
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