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TALICH QUARTET 13
The space of the formappears here, on the contrary, as an attempt to demolish any
kind of hierarchical structure (between fast and slow movements) inherited from
Viennese Classicism. The extreme power of attraction of each transition between
two divergent forms (dance movements, contrapuntal movement) constitutes a
new aspect in Beethoven’s ‘late style’. In the last piano sonatas Beethoven seemed
rather to transgress the (syntactic andmorphological) conventions by aggravating,
exacerbating them. In the Quartet op.130 (perhaps the composer’s most overtly
modern work, in the strict sense) he isolates them and brings about their downfall
with a maximum of force and diversity.
The Cavatina is the fifth movement of the quartet, yet it is the first genuine pole
of attraction in the score! It shifts all the specific weight towards the finale initially
intended by the composer, the
Great Fugue
op.133.