String Quartet in B flat major, Op.67

1 Vivace 2Andante 3 Agitato (Allegretto non troppo) 4 Poco allegretto con variazioni

Written just after the First Symphony, the last of Brahms’s three quartets is a comparatively relaxed work that seems deliberately to bypass Beethoven as an antecedent and to revert more to the manner of Haydn and Mozart. The galloping 6/8 main theme of the opening Vivace might well have been inspired by the equivalent theme of Mozart’s “Hunt” Quartet in the same key. The Andante is a melodious F major idyll lost under the pressure of a dramatic D minor middle section and the same idyll regained by way of a delicately textured variation on itself in the final section. The Agitato third movement is not so much a scherzo as an interview with the viola, which alone remains unmuted and which gives characteristically eloquent voice not only to the two contrasting themes of the outer sections but also to the supple melody of the middle section.

Except in their B flat major tonality, the theme and variations of the last movement seem at first remote from the issues of the opening Vivace. But then, where the seventh variation ought to be, the tempo doubles, the metre changes to 6/8 and second violin and viola re-introduce the hunting theme in its unmistakable original shape. An eighth variation recalls more of the first movement and the coda discreetly but conclusively combines the 2/4 variation theme with the hunting triplets.

Brahms always liked to amuse himself with contradictory rhythms, above all by setting twos against threes - presenting them simultaneously perhaps, or alternating them, or merging one with the other. He does it nowhere more consistently or, from the long-term point of view, more purposefully than in the last of his three String Quartets. Written just after the First Symphony in the summer of 1876, the Quartet in B flat major is a comparatively relaxed work that seems deliberately to bypass Beethoven as an antecedent and to revert more to the manner of Haydn and Mozart.

The galloping 6/8 main theme of the opening Vivace might well have been inspired by the equivalent theme of Mozart’s “Hunt” Quartet in the same key, K.458. The second of the two subsidiary themes, however, is a little polka in 2/4 time. While most of the development is in 6/8, there is a substantial 2/4 episode dedicated to subverting the rhythmic identity of the polka theme. Whatever remains to be done to complete the integration of the two elements is duly carried out in the coda where cello and viola in 2/4 and the two violins in 6/8 simultaneously indicate their readiness to go either way before settling on a definitive 6/8 in the last few bars.

The two middle movements are concerned with other issues. The Andante is a melodious F major idyll lost under the pressure of a dramatic D minor middle section and the same idyll regained by way of a delicately textured variation on itself in the final section. The Agitato third movement is not so much a scherzo as an interview with the viola, which alone remains unmuted and which gives characteristically eloquent voice not only to the two contrasting themes of the outer sections but also to the supple melody of the Trio section.

Except in their B flat major tonality, the theme and variations of the last movement seem at first to be no nearer to the issues of the opening Vivace. But halfway through the fourth variation the two violins introduce a rhythmic figure not unlike that of the 2/4 polka tune. And then, where the seventh variation ought to be, the tempo doubles, the metre changes to 6/8 and second violin and viola re-introduce the hunting theme in its unmistakable original shape. An eighth variation recalls more of the first movement and the coda discreetly but conclusively combines the 2/4 variation theme with the hunting triplets.

Brahms always liked to amuse himself with contradictory rhythms, above all by setting twos against threes - presenting them simultaneously perhaps, or alternating them, or merging one with the other. He does it nowhere more consistently or, from the long-term point of view, more purposefully than in the last of his three String Quartets. Written just after the First Symphony in the summer of 1876, the Quartet in B flat major is a comparatively relaxed work that seems deliberately to bypass Beethoven as an antecedent and to revert more to the manner of Haydn and Mozart.

The galloping 6/8 main theme of the opening Vivace might well have been inspired by the equivalent theme of Mozart’s “Hunt” Quartet in the same key, K.458. But as soon as the basic metre is established the second violin and then the violin and cello contradict it by apparently changing the metre to 3/4. When he comes to the second of the two subsidiary themes, a little polka in F major, Brahms really does change the metre, this time to 2/4, before restoring the basic 6/8 for the exposition repeat. Although most of the development, which introduces a new theme sotto voce in parallel thirds and octaves, is in 6/8, there is a substantial 2/4 episode dedicated to subverting the rhythmic identity of the polka theme. Whatever remains to be done to complete the integration of the two elements is duly carried out in the coda where cello and viola in 2/4 and the two violins in 6/8 simultaneously indicate their readiness to go either way before settling on a definitive 6/8 in the last few bars.

The two middle movements are concerned with other issues. The Andante is a melodious F major idyll lost under the pressure of a dramatic D minor middle section, which intriguingly combines something of the French overture with something of the Hungarian rhapsody, and the same idyll regained by way of a delicately textured variation on itself in the final section. The Agitato third movement is not so much a scherzo as an interview with the viola, which alone remains unmuted and which gives characteristically eloquent voice not only to the two contrasting themes of the outer sections - one rueful in D minor, the other positive in G major - but also to the supple melody of the Trio section. It is the first violin, however, that motivates the D major ending of the movement.

Except in their B flat major tonality, the theme and variations of the last movement seem at first to be no nearer to the issues of the opening Vivace. But halfway through the fourth variation the two violins introduce a rhythmic figure not unlike that of the 2/4 polka tune. And then, where the seventh variation ought to be, the tempo doubles, the metre changes to 6/8 and second violin and viola re-introduce the hunting theme in its unmistakable original shape. An eighth variation recalls more of the first movement and the coda discreetly but conclusively combines the 2/4 variation theme with the hunting triplets.

Gerald Larner©