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INTÉGRALE DES QUATUORS À CORDES 43
The relative calm of the
Andante
and the acceptance of suffering nonetheless
allow him to sing with sadness and attain the heights of pathos in the middle
episode.TheMystery ofMusic is capable of ineffable secrets, of conveying feeling
– in this case, anguish –without a need for words…
The Minuet casts off the morbidity of the first two movements. We note the
repeated notes, which Mozart turns to again in the last movement. This is an
elegant courtly divertimento, calling for great virtuosic skills.
Despite its charm, the final movement stems from the intolerable anguish of
the first two movements: it represents a moment of ‘convalescence’ after their
inevitable revelations and tragic despondency. But, as is often the case in the
works of Bartók, movement and dancemask the crisis. The constantly repeated
notes give an illusion of dynamism and ability to overcome the intensity of
the crisis. Again, how similar this is to the writing we find in Beethoven’s final
string quartets, composed forty years later! Apparently, genius shares the same
language.As the coda goes to show.
In the
string quartet in E-flat major, K. 428
, the first theme of the opening
Allegro
is mysterious and meditative. It is followed by a second theme that is distinctly
more dynamic and playful. Gradually the mood grows more feverish, while the
rhythmbecomes almost violent.
The
Andante
returns to a mood of meditation and poignant reverie. There is a
constantmovement back and forth, between anguish and resignation.
The theme of the Minuet expresses the will to react, thus prefiguring the finales
of Bartók’s quartets, in which one finds the desire to forget anguish, leave it
behind, and experience the trepidation of a daily existence that is apparently
capableof triumphingover such torments. But thegentle lament of theTrio is an
admission of distress, its tenderness almost Schubertian.