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String Quartet No. 8 (Beethoven)The String Quartet No. 8 in E minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, Opus 59, No. 2, was the second of three of his "Razumovsky" cycle of string quartets, and is a product of his "middle" style period. He published it in 1808. It is in four movements: - Allegro
- Molto Adagio (Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento)
- Allegretto (second section "Maggiore — Theme russe")
- Finale, Presto
According to Carl Czerny, the second movement of the quartet occurred to Beethoven as he contemplated the starry sky and thought of the music of the spheres (Thayer, Life of Beethoven); it has a hymnlike quality reminiscent of a much later devotion, the "Heiliger Dankgesang" hymn to the Divine in the Quartet Op. 132. The scherzo movement of the quartet, the third movement (Allegretto), uses a Russian theme also used by Modest Mussorgsky in Boris Godunov; however, the way he uses it is ungentle indeed. According to Kerman, "It sounds as though Count Razumovsky had been tactless enough to hand Beethoven the tune, and Beethoven is pile-driving it into the ground by way of revenge." In an extremely unusual example of melodic setting prior to the 20th century, portions of the tune with strong tonic harmonic leanings are harmonized with the dominant, and vice versa; the harmonic clash is harsh, and many listeners have found this portion of the quartet to be quite amusing, especially as contrasted with the prosaic, almost "exercise-book" counterpoint which precedes it (another example of Beethoven parodying a student counterpoint exercise can be found in the scherzo of the Quartet No. 10, Opus 74). References and further reading - Joseph Kerman, The Beethoven Quartets. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1966. ISBN 0393009092
- Alexander Wheelock Thayer, Life of Beethoven. Princeton, rev. 1964.
See also: String Quartets Nos. 7 - 9, Opus 59 - Rasumovsky (Beethoven) String quartet 08
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