String Quartet in E flat major Op.12 (1829)

Possibly when he wrote his First String Quartet in A minor and almost certainly when he wrote his Second in E flat major Mendelssohn was in thrall not only to Beethoven but also to a young singer called Betty Pistor. While the echoes of Beethoven’s E flat quartets in the first movement of Op.12 might lead one to expect classical orthodoxy, the appearance of a new theme in F minor in the development is an unmistakably romantic intervention. It is only towards the end of the work that, by absorbing the F minor declaration into the thematic material of the Molto allegro e vivace, Mendelssohn successfully resolves the situation.

The Octet that Mendelssohn wrote when he was sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture which followed a year later are miracles of originality. The String Quartets in A minor and E flat major, written in 1827 and 1829 respectively, are scarcely less miraculous but rather less original. Even so, while the Adagio introduction and the Allegro non tardante of Op.12 have clear Beethoven quartet precedents in the same key (in Op.74 and Op.127 respectively) their long-term functions are quite different from those of their models.

The distinctive feature of    the Allegro non tardante is that it sacrifices sonata-form regularity to a higher purpose. The exposition is classically authentic in every respect, but at the beginning of the development the first subject re-enters in its original key and, on a diminuendo to pp, a new theme appears on second violin in F minor – a dramatic event which, together with the reappearance of that theme in still unreconciled F minor at the end of the recapitulation, changes the shape of the movement and leaves a problem unresolved.

There is no precedent in Beethoven for the Canzonetta in G minor: it is thoroughly characteristic Mendelssohn, above all in the whispered scherzo-like figuration in the quicker middle section. The serious-minded Andante espressivo in B flat might owe something to late Beethoven but, as its passionate recitatives on first violin suggests, it might owe just as much to the composer’s admiration for Betty Pistor, the Berlin beauty whose initials appear in a dedication inscribed on the manuscript.

The Andante is connected directly to the finale, which is a remarkable movement by any standards. While pursuing its own urgent and texturally resourceful agenda in C minor, it finds time to halt its 12/8 impetus and incorporate an echo of the F minor theme from the first movement. As it becomes clear that the F minor theme and the first subject of the Molto allegro e vivace are related, the initial impulse is restored, apparently to lead towards a C minor ending. But again there is an interruption – this time    a varied reminiscence of the Adagio introduction followed by another echo of the F minor theme and a recall of the main theme of the first movement, which sweetly ends the work in E flat major.

Gerald Larner © 2009

The Octet that Mendelssohn wrote when he was sixteen and the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture which followed a year later are miracles of originality. The String Quartets in A minor and E flat major, written in 1827 and 1829 respectively, are scarcely less miraculous but rather less original. Even so, while the young composer clearly found inspiration in Beethoven for those two works, he was not without ambitious ideas of his own. There is a clear thematic resemblance between the Adagio introduction to Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E flat, Op.12, and that of Beethoven’s Quartet in the same key, Op.74, just as there is between Mendelssohn’s Allegro non tardante and the Allegro of Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat, Op.127. At the same time, however, the long-term functions of Beethoven’s and Mendelssohn’s slow introductions and the structural priorities of their first movements are quite different.

The distinctive feature of Mendelssohn’s Allegro non tardante is that it sacrifices sonata-form regularity to a higher purpose. The exposition is classically authentic in every respect except that, as so often in Mendelssohn’s first movements, the first and second subjects are not very different in character. But at the beginning of the development section the first subject re-enters in its original key and, on a diminuendo to pp, a new theme appears on second violin in F minor - which dramatic event, together with the reappearance of that theme in still unreconciled F minor at the end of the recapitulation, changes the shape of the movement and leaves a problem unresolved.

There is no precedent in Beethoven for the Canzonetta in G minor. The tuneful equivalent of the Intermezzo of the Quartet in A minor, Op.13, it is thoroughly characteristic Mendelssohn, above all in the whispered scherzo-like figuration in the quicker middle section. The serious-minded Andante espressivo in B flat might owe something to late Beethoven but, as its passionate recitatives on first violin suggests, it might owe just as much to the composers’s admiration for Betty Pistor, the Berlin beauty whose initials appear in a dedication (“An B.P.”) inscribed on the manuscript.

The slow movement is connected directly to the finale, which is a remarkable movement by any standards. While pursuing its own urgent and texturally resourceful agenda in C minor, it finds time to halt its 12/8 impetus and incorporate an echo of the F minor theme from the first movement - in its original 4/4 metre and its original key and once more on a hushed second violin. As it becomes clear that the F minor theme and the first subject of the Molto allegro e vivace are related, the initial impulse is restored, apparently to lead towards a C minor ending, unlikely though that would be by classical standards. But again 12/8 gives way to 4/4, this time to include a varied reminiscence of the Adagio introduction, another echo of the F minor theme and then a recall of the main theme of the first movement, which sweetly ends the work in E flat major.

Although two eventful late-teen years passed between the composition of the Quartet in A minor Op.13 and that of its successor in E flat major Op.12, the two works were inspired by much the same passions. Mendelssohn was in love not only with Beethoven’s string quartets but also, it seems, with an amateur singer in Berlin called Betty Pistor. The Beethoven influence is unmistakable in both cases and, while there is no actual documentary evidence of Betty’s involvement in Op.13, the dedication of the manuscript of the present work to “B.P” (changed to “B.R.” when she got engaged to Adolf Rudorff) surely indicates that she was on his mind as he wrote it.

The dual inspiration of the Quartet in E flat - Beethoven on the one hand and unrequited love on the other - is one of the factors that make it so distinctive. There is a clear thematic resemblance between the Adagio introduction and that of Beethoven’s Quartet in the same key Op.74, just as there is between the following Allegro non tardante and the Allegro of Beethoven’s Quartet in E flat Op.127. Mendelssohn’s Allegro non tardante departs from sonata-form regularity, however, by way of a romantic event that is to have far-reaching consequences. The exposition is classically authentic in every respect except that, as so often in Mendelssohn’s first movements, the first and second subjects are not very different in character. But at the beginning of the development section the first subject re-enters in its original key and, on a diminuendo to pp, a quite new theme appears on second violin in the alien key of F minor - which dramatic intervention, together with the reappearance of that theme in still unreconciled F minor at the end of the recapitulation, changes the shape of the movement and leaves a problem unresolved.

There is no precedent in Beethoven for the Canzonetta in G minor, which thoroughly characteristic Mendelssohn, above all in the whispered scherzo-like figuration in the quicker middle section. The serious-minded Andante espressivo in B flat might owe something to late Beethoven but, as its passionate recitatives on first violin suggests, it might owe just as much to the composers’s feelings for Betty Pistor.

The slow movement is connected directly to the finale, which is a remarkable movement by any standards. While pursuing its own urgent and texturally resourceful agenda in C minor, it finds time to halt its 12/8 impetus and incorporate an echo of the F minor theme from the first movement - in its original 4/4 metre and its original key and once more on a hushed second violin. As it becomes clear that the F minor theme and the first subject of the Molto allegro e vivace are related, the initial impulse is restored. But again 12/8 gives way to 4/4, this time to include a varied reminiscence of the Adagio introduction, another echo of the F minor theme and then a recall of the main theme of the first movement, which sweetly ends the work in E flat major.