Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 07/24/2010, uploaded on 10/25/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Große Fuge (Grande Fugue Op. 133): Ouverture. Allegro — Meno mosso e moderato — Allegretto — Fuga. [Allegro] — Meno mosso e moderato — Allegro molto e con brio — Allegro

Originally the finale of the String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, the Grosse Fuge is a contrapuntal tour de force, much in the same manner as, and worthy to stand alongside, J.S. Bach’s Art of Fugue. In addition, it is a deeply introspective piece constructed along mammoth proportions, surpassing anything else that Beethoven composed, even the enigmatic Hammerklavier Piano Sonata, and equally demanding upon performers and audiences alike. At its premiere in March 1826, as part of the B-flat major Quartet, it bewildered both audience and critics. While the middle movements of the quartet were encored, the fugue was described as “incomprehensible” and “a confusion of Babel.” Indeed, the work on its surface is perplexing and there is some truth in Joseph de Marliave’s comment that there is more reward in studying it than performing it. At the suggestion of his publisher, Matthias Artaria, Beethoven consented to composing a new finale in a lighter and more popular vein to replace the inaccessible fugue. It was a rare instance in which Beethoven gave in to opinions other than his own. The Grosse Fuge was then published separately as opus 133 along with a four-hand piano arrangement as opus 134.

The fugue opens with a brief Overtura which freely presents the fugue subject in various rhythms and establishes much of the musical material from which the entire work is constructed. Technically, the work is a double fugue. Yet, its form is incredibly free, adding to the mix elements of both variation and sonata form. Beethoven himself described it as “tantôt libre et tantôt recherchée" (“in part free and in part studied”). Both subjects, including that given out in the Overtura, are heard together at the outset of the fugue and subsequently worked out in a mind-boggling display of contrapuntal skill. In a useful analysis by Vincent d’Indy, he dissects the work into six sections, including the Overtura. The two sections following the Overtura he calls the first and second fugues, each with their own exposition and followed by three variations. The fourth section is a development section based upon the two previous fugues. A re-exposition, returning to the tonic key of B-flat major, forms the fifth section and, lastly, an expansive coda concludes the work. So much for technical points. Artistically and psychologically, the Grosse Fuge represents the culmination of Beethoven’s art. Beginning with its defiant and stormy introduction, the fugue hurls discord after discord at the listener. Critics’ remarks of chaos and confusion are not wholly misplaced, but then the unknown always looks chaotic until the light of reason finds order. Through the fugue’s own internal workings and the magnificent art of counterpoint, understanding is attained and one can even say beauty compared to the strident tones with which the listener was rudely greeted. In the final bars of the work, solidly grounded in the tonic key, the fugue subjects are miraculously transformed into an expression of supreme triumph. For Beethoven himself, this was the culmination of his art—the triumph of his genius and the ability to create beauty and order from chaos. For the listener, it may simply be the triumph of witnessing the single greatest creation of the human mind.      Joseph DuBose

courtesy of the Steans Music Institute

The Steans Music Institute is the Ravinia Festival's professional studies program for young musicians.