# There's something about Opus 131...



## GrosseFugue (Nov 30, 2011)

Of course, I am talking about Beethoven's. Recently, thanks to the lockdown, I listened to all seven mvts in one go, something I hadn't done in a while.

I then read JWN Sullivan's writing on it from _Beethoven: His Spiritual Development._ He describes the first four mvts thusly: *"If ever a mystical vision of life has been presented in art it is here, in the sequence beginning with the fugue and ending with the last variation." *

To top it off I watched this video on the work: 



 An incredible analysis, which even as a non-musician I could appreciate. Of particular interest was his description of how the opening fugue comes back in mvt 7 in "various disguises" and increasingly in the "uninvited key." Also the fugue/sonata or church/battlefield analogy was awesome!

There's definitely a cumulative experience to be had at the end. Hence the pay-off to listening to all seven mvts (no shuffling!). It reminded me of going through all 30 variations of The Goldberg (by Bach) and hearing the aria again in a new way

Opus 131: it's still strange, but in the best way. There's just something about it...


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

It is a remarkable work. Although I like Opus 111 better for its exploration of the ineffable, and Opus 127 better as a string quartet, I wouldn't want to be without it. (My favorite parts of it are the bits of comic relief he throws in -- true measures of genius.)


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## GrosseFugue (Nov 30, 2011)

MarkW said:


> (My favorite parts of it are the bits of comic relief he throws in -- true measures of genius.)


You mean like the lighthearted pizzicato he uses in the Presto? And then there's that invasive cello line in mvt. 4 (I don't know which variation) which Bruce Adolphe (on the YouTube vid) describes as like a pesky child tugging at the trousers of an older boy which is a hilarious description. I never saw it like that before, but does sound intentionally "irksome" -- for lack of a better word.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

MarkW said:


> (My favorite parts of it are the bits of comic relief he throws in -- true measures of genius.)


Maybe he's mocking the fugal style in this passage (measure 115~128), I'm just guessing. 
it's an intriguing passage because seems to signify "two sides" being stubbornly static, unwilling to reconcile with one another. But the passage at measure 129 (right before the time signature change) feels to me "ecstatically consoling", more than most other passages in the movement. It conjures up the image of two individuals eventually reconciling with one another.





 ( 16:06 ~ 16:52 )


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

MarkW said:


> Opus 127 better as a string quartet,


Why?

cf;awsjfcklwsavfcnhewsklvcheszklvch


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

GrosseFugue said:


> Opus 131: it's still strange, but in the best way. There's just something about it...


yeah, the first movement is sublime. And also:



hammeredklavier said:


> I think what makes Op.131 special is that it is a multi-movement work where the ensemble plays virtually "non-stop" from start to finish. I heard in one philosophical lecture that said something to the effect this piece can teach about family life and friendship to the players. Over the course of 40 minutes in performance of this Op.131 quartet, strings can become loose and go out of tune. Players must be flexible enough in technique to adjust themselves to the tuning of other players in order to compensate for the "failures". They must keep going together to the finish. The lecturer said "Likewise, we must sometimes adjust ourselves to the needs of our loved ones, try understand them and put ourselves in their shoes, to establish balance and harmony in family life" or something along the lines. I can't remember exactly though.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

GrosseFugue said:


> You mean like the lighthearted pizzicato he uses in the Presto? And then there's that invasive cello line in mvt. 4 (I don't know which variation) which Bruce Adolphe (on the YouTube vid) describes as like a pesky child tugging at the trousers of an older boy which is a hilarious description. I never saw it like that before, but does sound intentionally "irksome" -- for lack of a better word.


Both of those plus the passage at the end of movement 5 where the players scramble around for a moment as if they have lost the thread.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Why?
> 
> cf;awsjfcklwsavfcnhewsklvcheszklvch


I just do. It appeals to me more.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*There's something about Opus 131...*

There certainly is. The opus proves Beethoven's attempt to define _Das Erhabene_ in musical terms.

I'd say he succeeded.


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## GrosseFugue (Nov 30, 2011)

hammeredklavier said:


> Maybe he's mocking the fugal style in this passage (measure 115~128), I'm just guessing.
> it's an intriguing passage because seems to signify "two sides" being stubbornly static, unwilling to reconcile with one another. But the passage at measure 129 (right before the time signature change) feels to me "ecstatically consoling", more than most other passages in the movement. It conjures up the image of two individuals eventually reconciling with one another.
> 
> 
> ...


That's very interesting!

I was particularly intrigued by around 21:13 in the same vid, I think measure 203 (I can't read music! ha!), where the bass line starts to get "invasive" and by 21:54 the violin and then the other strings seem to answer back, "Shut up!" Till the cello seems to behave. LOL.

What else is super-interesting is how LvB apparently goes through all the keys on the scale through the seven mvts, except for F Sharp Minor which, in Mr. Adolphe's words, *"shows up when it's not supposed to"* by *"barging"* into the first mvt and *"taking over"* the last mvt - *"sounds wrong but feels right."* Whoa!


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

GrosseFugue said:


> What else is super-interesting is how LvB apparently goes through all the keys on the scale through the seven mvts, except for F Sharp Minor which, in Mr. Adolphe's words, *"shows up when it's not supposed to"* by *"barging"* into the first mvt and *"taking over"* the last mvt - *"sounds wrong but feels right."* Whoa!


"Haydn uses an extremely wide range of tonalities for a composition of the time. Musicologist Mark Spitzer observes of this: "In its tonal freedom [it] anticipates [Haydn's] late Masses, particularly the Harmoniemesse ... The only other Classical 'multi-piece' which spreads itself across the entire tonal gamut with this architectural breadth is Beethoven's String Quartet in C♯ minor, op. 131 ... Why, then, is Beethoven given credit for experimental daring when Haydn, once again, gets there first?""
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Last_Words_of_Christ_(Haydn)

Spitzer has a fair point, but I don't really sympathize with him fully; because I don't consider either of these Haydn works really all that exceptional.
https://www.talkclassical.com/68853-favorite-work-haydn.html#post1967741
https://www.talkclassical.com/12497-most-overrated-underrated-composers-127.html#post1977379


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