It was at the end of 18th century that the word ‘Romanticism’ was first used to describe new ideas in painting and literature. Later, the word ‘Romanticism’ was taken up by musicians to describe the changes in musical style in the 19th century (1).
In the 19th century, composers started to shift the balance between expressiveness and formal structures as the 18th century composers had tried to strike a balance between expressiveness and formal structure in their music. In this essay, Beethoven (1770-1827), Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and Brahms (1833-1897) have been chosen to represent the main developments of the string quartet in the 19th century.
Beethoven, the German composer and pianist, has been described as the last of the 18th century’s composer and, at the same time, the first of the 19th century (2). Generally, his work can be divided into three periods. During the first period (about 1802), he wrote six String Quartets Op.18, No. 1-6. These showed the influence of Haydn and Mozart, together with the first six string quartets and the first dozen or so of his 32 piano sonatas. In the second period, he wrote ‘The Rasumovsky Quartet, Op.59’, No.1-3 (1825-6) and Op.74. The works written during this period were more individual (3).
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(1) Roy Bennett, Cambridge assignments in music: History of Music (2nd edition, Scotland), p49
(2) Roy Bennett, Cambridge assignments in music: History of Music (2nd edition, Scotland), p46
(3) Roy Bennett, Cambridge assignments in music: History of Music (2nd edition, Scotland), p49
During last period, the most successful stage, he wrote six more Quartets Op.95, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135 and the Grand Fugue for string quartet Op.133, (originally the finale of Op.130) (4).
The formal structures of the 18th century were still retained in early 19th century string quartets such as returning to the ‘home key’ in the last movement and the four-movement plan of sonata-form Allegro, scherzo and trio, variation slow movement, and rondo style finale. These can be seen in Beethoven’s Op.18, Op. 59, Op.74, and Op.95. These compositions still used the four-movement plan as well (5). On the other hand, the composers during the early 19th century attempted to break down the formal structures or regime without subverting them by writing a linking melody in the first violin part between third movement and fourth movements as seen in Beethoven’s fist movement Op.59 no.1, (see example 1 below), without writing scherzo and trio in the second movement.
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(4) Donald. Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music (5th edition, London, 1996) & Basil Lam, Beethoven String Quartets (London, 1975)
(5) Basil Lam, Beethoven String Quartets (London, 1975) p.116 movement, without writing variations or writing Adagio instead of Allegro in his first movement and writing extra movements in Op.130 and Op.131.
During the early 19th, the composers also introduced some new material and ideas to enrich their sound of music. In the second movement of Op.59 no.1, Beethoven used sonata form, though the result was quite un-sonata in its variety of themes (as in example 2 below), key-relations (changes to G minor in bar 91, C major in bar 151 and Gb major bar in 162 etc.) and dynamics (from pp to ff) (6).
Besides, the composers had enlarged and explored a wider range of pitches and expanded their compositions on a larger scale. The details can be seen in the first movement of Op.59 no.1, the range of first violin from lower B to three octaves higher C.
With careful analysis, it is not difficult to see how the trend of string quartet developed in the early 19th century. Composers also modulated the work not only to the relative key, but more than that, Romantic composers attempted to move to the unrelated keys or wrote a few more movements, besides linking up the movements by extension of melody or adding the word attacca, as well as writing the 1st movement and last movement in Allegro tempo and widening the range of pitch etc.
Following the death of Beethoven, and by the mid 19th century, the varieties of instrumental combinations became wider however, the fourth movement still remained. Take the string quartets of Mendelssohn (1809-1847), the German composer, pianist, organist, and conductor, as an example; although he was closest in spirit to the eighteenth century (7) the Romantic style can still be seen clearly in his composition. He wrote about twenty string quartets. ‘Indeed, thematic (and poetic) unities reach a new level in the quartets of Op.44 precisely by way of the composer’s decision to forgo the dramaturgy of contrast that is a supposed precondition of sonata form. This is the best and earliest of the three works (8).
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(6) Basil Lam, Beethoven String Quartets (1975, London), p.41
(7)Rey M.Longyear, Nineteenth-century Romanticism in music, (2nd ed, Englewood Cliffs, 1973), p.113
(8) Thomas Schmidt-Beste, ‘Mendelssohn’s Chamber Music’ in Peter Mercer-Taylor (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Mendelssohn, (Cambridge, 2004) p.142
Mendelssohn’s Op.44 is another example, which he wrote it in 1837-8. Semi-quavers were widely used in function to leading the melody back into the tutti. See example 3 below (Op.44 No.1). Mendelssohn also used the technique that mentioned before to weave his music such as bar 5, 9, 37 and 39 in cello part, bar 42 in cello part etc.
Expression marks started to increase in complexity and give rise to great contrasts such as fp followed by pp, pp followed by ff etc. And the musical term dolce, con fuoco, leggiero was used to indicate the detail of the instrumental playing. These were not meant to restrict the performers, but to give them more freedom and interpret the composer’s thoughts (9).
Composers during the 19th century attempted to write music that was different to the others and different to earlier compositions. For instance, the musical structure, harmony and rhythmic patterns became more complicated.
The first movement of Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op.44 no.3 has a melody in the first violin part that is extremely lyrical. See example 4 below. The music is more
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(9)Rey M.Longyear, Nineteenth-century Romanticism in music, (2nd ed, Englewood Cliffs, 1973), Chapter2, p.27
individual and personal instead of ‘absolute’ music. The music is also influenced by their background and life experience. These factors influenced the music are reflected in the irregular phrase structure, different kinds of articulation or even the verbal content used to describe the music. It allows the audience to imagine the scenery reflected in the music
How was the lyrical sound of the Romantic Style achieved? Mendelssohn wrote cross accentuated rhythms to maintain interest in his music. See example 5 below. He also used changes in the dynamic signs eg. ‘sf’ on a high note in the violin part to add colour.
To continue the developments of the string quartet in late 19th century, Brahms (1833-1897), the German composer and pianist, Op.51 has been chosen also. Dramatic orchestration with great contrasts in the mood of the music was one of the main characteristics in late 19th century music. A great variety of dynamics, harmonic, pitches, rhythm, new score notation and articulation combine with the player’s passion and brilliant techniques. However, the conventional styles can also be traced in the music. From his Op.51, Brahms kept his string quartets in four movements with first and fourth movements in fast tempo. It is one of several examples.
The extremely contrasting theme used in the first movement of Op.51 no.1 by Brahms is significant. First theme bar 1-7 is played passionately and suddenly stops with violin I, violin II and cello, but holding the viola part with a bridge to link up the second theme together. Then the second theme starts with extended minims played in an expressive manner. Besides, a large leap used to shape the melody line and accompaniment appears as octave leaps throughout the 1st movement. The late Romantic composer appears to enjoy using contrasts even between the irregular accents in the four voices, the dynamic changes, and the rhythmic pulse.
As for the rhythmic aspect of this work, the composers wrote the individual voices in different note group values. Duplets appear against triplets and other permutations and the concept of two beats in one part against three in another (10) or three against four in another .
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(10) Rey M.Longyear, nineteenth – century romanticism in music, (2nd ed, Englewood Cliffs, 1973), Chapter2 p.25
Take the first movement of Op.51 no.1 as an example – see example 6 below.
Also, the syncopated rhythmic patterns with semi-quaver note values have been used. See example 7 below. 
In addition, new score notation has appeared in Brahms’s works. For example, triplet and double sharp are seen in the first movement of Op.51 no.1 and the harmonics symbol under second violin part in third movement 87 to 99. Also, he uses few more descriptive terms in the music such as sempre mezza roce, grazioso ed animato in the first movement of Op.51 no.2 in bar 46 and dim.ed un poco rit. in the third movement Op.67 etc.
According to several analysts, the processes of development in the Romantic string quartet were as follows:
Firstly, 19th century composers appeared to change the style of the fourth movement by inserting the scherzo in the second or third movement or wrote adagio instead of allegro in the first or fourth movements such as Beethoven Op.95 no.1 and Op.59 No.3. In addition, composers favored irregular phrase structures instead of the standard four bar phrases.
Secondly, composers of this era attempted to break down the formal structure by using modulations to unrelated keys and used contrasting dynamics whenever possible. Moreover, they also introduced some new ideas or materials in the combination of the four instruments. The main achievement, however, is seen in the breakthrough of the formal structure and the contrasts achieved.
Later in the 19th century composers wrote music that became more personal and individual. As the music reflected their life experiences, this appeared in the mood of the music. They attempted to use large leaps, dissonant chords, chromatic harmony, varying tempo and a great contrast in mood between the first and second theme.
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Bibliography
Book resources:-
- Roy Bennett, Cambridge assignments in music: History of Music (2nd edition, Musselburgh, Scotland)
- Donald.Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music (5th edition, London, 1996)
- Basil Lam, Beethoven String Quartets (London, 1975)
- Rey M.Longyear, Nineteenth-century Romanticism in music, (2nd ed, Englewood Cliffs, 1973)
- Thomas Schmidt-Beste, Mendelssohn’s Chamber Music in Peter Mercer-Taylor (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Mendelssohn, (Cambridge, 2004)
Website resources:-
- http://www.classicalarchives.com/
Music Score:-
From the music library
- Beethoven, Quartet String Vol.1 & 2 (601759 & 601760)
- Mendelssohn, Quartet String Op.44 (620721)
- Brahms, Chamber Music Vol.1 (607829)
Recording resources:-
From the website
- http://www.classicalarchives.com
*Beethoven: Op.59 No.1
From the music library
- Beethoven, String Quartets Op.18 No.1 & No.2 (CD 2089)
- Beethoven, String Quartets Op.135
- Mendelssohn, String Quartet Op.44 No.1 & No.3 (CD1739)
- Brahms, String Quartet Op.51 No.1 & No.2
- Brahms, String Quartet Op.67
Written by Cheng Po Chun (Eva) @ 2006
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