Inside Beethoven's Quartets: History, Performance, Interpretation (review)

Books that allow scholars and performers of the first rank to join forces have been rare indeed. That such a book has appeared focusing on a repertory as significant as the Beethoven quartets should thus be cause for rejoicing. The Juilliard Quartet needs no introduction to music lovers, and Lewis Lockwood—though hardly a house-hold name to non-musicologists—is one of the most respected figures in the field of Beethoven studies, as well as being a gifted amateur cellist.

The book they have produced together is beautifully presented. A striking cover portrait of a pensive young Beethoven shows notes, presumably from a string quartet (there are four staves, but they are too blurry to identify the piece) swirling around him. The large size makes the book suitable for coffee tables, and there is even a complimentary compact disc inside the back cover with specially recorded performances of the three movements discussed in the book, plus a rarity: the original, "Amenda" version of the first movement of op. 18, no. 1. The Juilliard Quartet's annotated performing scores of the movements discussed are included as well, based on the nineteenth-century Breitkopf und Härtel Gesamtausgabebut with the annotations set in type. The score of the Amenda version, reproduced from the Neue Beethoven Aus gabe, also appears, though in somewhat smaller type and without annotations. Together, these scores take up nearly a third of the book, but there are few music examples in the remaining text.

Lockwood explains in the preface that the genesis of the book lies in a series of lectures he gave in 1990 with the Juilliard as then constituted. (Robert Mann has since retired as first violinist, former second violinist Joel Smirnoff has moved up to replace him, and Ronald Copes has stepped into the second violinist's chair.) These lectures focused on op. 18, no. 1 in F Major, op. 59, no. 1 in F Major—the first of the "early" and "middle" quartets, respectively—and op. 130 in B-flat Major, which stands in the chronological middle of the "late" quartets. Each session was two hours long and presumably presented the works in their entirety. The same three quartets are discussed in the present book, but only the first movements are included, though Lock wood touches on the broader context in his historical introductions to each section. The discussions between him and the members of the quartet are also wide ranging.

Their choice of works raises some interesting questions. Why only first movements, and why only pieces in major keys, when five out of the sixteen Beethoven quartets are in the minor, as are many interior movements in major-key works? No. 1 is perhaps the most impressively conceived work in op. 18: a fact that Beethoven acknowledged by placing it first. Likewise, op. 59, no. 1 is a typical large-scale work of the "heroic" period, comparable to the "Eroica" symphony and the "Waldstein" piano sonata but not to smaller-scale pieces like the Fourth Symphony, the "Les Adieux" sonata or the op. 95 quartet. While there is probably no such thing as a typical late quartet, it could be argued that op. 130 is more atypical than most. It does mesh nicely, though, with the other two works, combining the scale and breadth of op. 59 with the wit and capriciousness of op. 18.

Apart from the annotated scores and the recording, the Juilliard's contribution consists of holding conversations about the works with Lockwood as moderator, which were recorded and carefully transcribed by Matthew Cron. Similar conversations apparently took place on stage at the 1990 lectures, becoming more elaborate each time. No such development is evident here, since the conversations about all three quartets are of approximately equal length. They are full of fascinating details based on the group's experience performing and teaching this music. However, one misses the spontaneity...