ERIC HARRISON, HOST:
Good afternoon and thanks for tuning in to Little Rock Public Radio and Classical KLRE-FM, 90.5. I'm Eric Harrison, I write about arts and culture at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and I’ll be your host for the next two hours.
You're listening to ‘Major and Minor Masterpieces,’ where we will focus each week on a broad range of classical music, from chamber music to choral works to full symphonies and maybe even a touch or two of opera.
This week we’ll focus on the three “Razumovsky” string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets — works for two violins, viola and cello — almost all of them in clusters. The first six comprised his opus 18; the last five occupy opus numbers 127, 130, 131, 132 and 135.
Smack in the middle are these three quartets of op. 59, subtitled “Razumovsky” for Count Andrei Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna and patron (and sometimes second violinist) of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, which premiered the works. Razumovsky commissioned Beethoven to write them with the only stipulation that he use Russian themes in their composition.
They take a giant leap forward in the construction of the string quartet beyond the format codified by Franz Joseph Haydn (sometimes billed as the “father of the string quartet,” who wrote 68 of them) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Haydn’s quartets focused much of the melodic writing on the first violin — not surprising, considering Haydn was the concertmaster, or principal first violin, of the court orchestra he headed). Beethoven’s early op.18 quartets largely followed that model, but by this point, he makes all four parts equal, interweaving complex patterns that shift from player to player to create a tapestry of musical sound.
You can hear that in the first of the three quartets, in F major, in which the cello takes the melodic lead from the top; also unusual is the almost funereal slow movement, similar in some ways to the funeral march in Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony (written about the same time). That gives way to a spritely, folky finale that Beethoven labeled “Theme Russe,” based on a Russian folk song, a nod to his patron.
The Cypress String Quartet — Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violins; Ethan Filler, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello — has recorded the entire catalog of Beethoven quartets for Ave Records. Here’s their 2013 recording of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 1 in F major, op.59 No. 1.
(LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S “RAZUMOVSKY” NO. 1)
You’ve been listening to the Cypress String Quartet play Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 1 in F major, op.59 No. 1, on Major and Minor Masterpieces on Little Rock Public Radio and classical KLRE-FM, 90.5.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOJCIECH “BOITEG” CIESLINKSKI’S “FIRST VIOLIN”)
—PROGRAM BREAK—
[EDUCATIONAL SEGMENT]
SARAH BUFORD, PRODUCER:
Hey listeners, welcome back to Major and Minor Masterpieces. I’m your producer, Sarah Buford, and it's time for our show’s little educational session, in which we break down some of the terminology we use when describing classical music and its history. We’re listening today to a series of string quartets, written for two violins, a viola and cello. Eric, maybe you can talk about how string instruments have evolved into the forms that they have today.
ERIC HARRISON, HOST:
Sure, Sarah. To begin with, “stringed instruments” are those that have strings stretched over a sound box of some kind and normally a neck, and can be played either with a bow, like a violin, or by plucking, such as a guitar or harp.
Bowed string instruments as we know them today evolved from the viol, which made its first appearance about the 10th century, and took various forms over the next 500 or 600 years, with differing numbers of strings and shapes. By the 16th century, we began to see two types of viol — the “viola da braccio,” held against the arm (“braccio” is Italian for arm), precursors of the modern violin and viola, and the “viola da gamba,” held between the legs, the ancestor, if you will, of the modern cello.
SARAH: And Eric, did they sound any different throughout the evolution of these instruments? And differences in pitch or range?
ERIC: Actually they did. Baroque pitch ranged anywhere from 392 Hertz (known now as A392) to approximately A415. Hertz is of course a measure of cycles and sound. In the early eras, strings were made of gut, sheep gut or cat gut. And modern instruments operate with steel strings or steel-wound strings and allow them to be greater tension. So, the current standard of tuning is A440.
SARAH: Oh wow. Okay that’s really interesting. Thank you for the reminder of what exactly Hertz is for some of our listeners. But also, animal guts? That’s something I did not expect to hear today on today’s show. Man, you’ve got all the knowledge. I can’t wait to keep exploring more of our show today. Thank you guys for listening so much. Let’s get back to more music on Major and Minor Masterpieces on KLRE 90.5.
[END OF EDUCATIONAL SEGMENT]
(SOUNDBITE OF WOJCIECH “BOITEG” CIESLINKSKI’S “FIRST VIOLIN”)
ERIC: Beethoven goes “dark” for the second quartet of the set, the first movement a turbulent battle with key shifts from minor to major and occasional, but short-lived, moments of tranquility. The composer once again uses a Russian theme in the trio section of the third-movement scherzo, and returns to a dark vs. light conflict in the lively final movement, in which “light” eventually triumphs, even in a minor key.
The Cypress Quartet now plays Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 2 in e minor, op.59 No. 2.
(LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S “RAZUMOVSKY” NO. 2)
You’ve heard the Cypress Quartet play Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 2 in e minor, op.59 No. 2.
Beethoven reverts, if you will, to a more classical structure for the third quartet in this set, including a slow introduction to the first movement and a third-movement minuet (long after the composer had mostly abandoned that form in favor of the scherzo), but with a joyous fugal finale and a brilliant, breathtaking finish.
And now, the Cypress Quartet again, playing Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 3 in C major, op.59 No. 3.
(LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S “RAZUMOVSKY” NO. 3)
You’ve heard the Cypress Quartet playing Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartet No. 3 in C major, op.59 No. 3 on Major and Minor Masterpieces here on Little Rock Public Radio and Classical KLRE-FM 90.5
And now for this week’s lagniappe: The breathtaking fourth movement, “Allegro prestissimo,” which in Italian pretty much means “as fast as possible,” of one of Beethoven’s early quartets: op.18 No. 4 in c minor. I have a warm spot for this quartet — it was the first piece of chamber music I ever played, under the tutelage of Samuel Mayes, then the principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who was the chamber music coach for our college pick-up quartet. Listen to the Miro Quartet — Daniel Ching and Sandy Yamamoto, violins; John Largess, viola; and Joshua Gindele, cello, from their recent recording of the complete quartets on Pentatone. And enjoy.
(LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN’S “QUARTET” OP.18 NO.4)
You’ve heard the Miro Quartet perform the fourth movement of one of Beethoven’s early quartets: op. 18 No. 4 in c minor on Major and Minor Masterpieces on Little Rock Public Radio and classical KLRE-FM, 90.5.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOJCIECH “BOITEG” CIESLINKSKI’S “FIRST VIOLIN”)
Thanks for tuning in this week to Major and Minor Masterpieces. I've been your host, Eric Harrison, of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Our producer is Sarah Buford. And a big thank you to our friend Wojciech Chiselinski for our transition and credit music.
Tune in again next week for Major and Minor Masterpieces on Little Rock Public Radio and classical KLRE-FM, 90.5.