BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTET OP.59 NO.1

Swedish violist Emilie Hörnlund, of the Chiaroscuro Quartet, discusses how to achieve optimal articulation, balance and flow in the first movement of the first ‘Rasumovsky’ Quartet

From Beethoven String Quartets opp.59, 74, 95. Urtext edition, paperbound. Editor Paul Mies. Order no. HN 268, ISMN 979- 0-2018-0268-8, €56. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 1999

There’s something so joyous and youthful about this movement that it just makes me smile. It’s so sunny, positive and warm, so sparkling and alive – full of almost puppy-like anticipation. I could listen to it on repeat, and I force my kids to listen to it too! Right now it’s my favourite Beethoven quartet. Ask me tomorrow, of course, and I’ll tell you something different.

Beethoven wrote q = 88 in his manuscript for this movement, which is quite fast. In the Chiaroscuro Quartet, violinists Alina Ibragimova and Pablo Hernán Benedí, cellist Claire Thirion and I play just under that, so that the melody sounds bubbly and light, but the triplets don’t sound manic. The main thing is to be aware, trust our instincts and listen.

To us, it’s the job of the second violin and viola to set the scene and get everything going. We breathe with Claire as she begins her melody, then play without a firm start, as though we are opening the curtains on music that has already begun. Modern players sometimes play these quavers (e) bouncily, but we use gut strings and Classical bows, so we feel that the note lengths can be healthy, as long as they don’t become dull or lose their usefulness. Of course, it is possible to do short articulation with a Classical bow, but a more brushed effect makes more sense to us musically. Whatever you decide, make sure that you are guided by what you want to hear, not by the limitations of your technique. That is also important in places such as bar 37, where the notes should sound equal wherever they fall in the bow.

Swapping parts

In the Chiaroscuro Quartet, when we disagree about anything in the music, we swap parts to try to understand each other’s perspectives. We swapped instruments once, but that was more funny than useful, I think! Claire is very good at playing while singing, so she tries to get us to sing our parts together too. We all speak different languages, so that can be interesting, because different sounds come naturally to each of us.

THE QUARTET

NAME CHIAROSCURO QUARTET

NATIONALITY MULTINATIONAL (RUSSIA, SPAIN, FÖ RDERPREIS DEUTSCHLANDFUNK/ SWEDEN, FRANCE)

AWARDS MUSIKFEST BREMEN (2013); PREIS DER DEUTSCHEN SCHALLPLATTENKRITIK (2015)

RECORDS FOR BIS

‘It’s nice if vibrato is thought about. If you can get the same warmth using just the bow and resonance of the strings, there is less need for it’

The Chiaroscuro Quartet’s latest recording, featuring Haydn’s String Quartets op.76 nos.4–6, is reviewed on page 85

This approach has been useful in bar 34, where the cello and viola have to demand space without being too heavy or ‘notey’ when responding to the violins. It’s helped us to work out how to keep the music flowing. It has also been useful from bar 79, for the triplet line that crescendos across the quartet, to find out how to pass the viola triplets to the second violin with the same sound and forward movement. It’s quite jumpy and difficult to play nicely, so I stay in first position and keep the bows short. In bars 89–90 we then play the carrot accents equally, with space between them but enough strength and direction to carry us to the warm dolce in bar 91. In bar 95, the music can feel heavier and a bit stuck when three of us are playing together, so swapping parts has helped us to find out how to allow enough room to move.

It can be particularly hard for the viola to get from the melodic, mellow material of bar 117 into the sustained forte of bar 118, the pianistic triplets of bar 119, and through bar 120, where there is no time to sit on the down-beat. Swapping parts has helped us to find fluidity in the triplets, quavers and the flowing melodic line over the top.

Slow practice

We have done a lot of slow practice in these places, which we call ‘slothing’. Sometimes we play with the metronome on the weak beats, too, to strengthen our internal rhythm. That really highlights where we are going wrong!

Slow practice has also been useful in the passage from bar 369, to help us find out how to pass the triplets across the quartet as bouncily as humanly possible, and to bring them out despite the string-crossings and middle register. I don’t know if it’s because of the register or the tempo, but I always find it hard to respond to the violins here. They have light, easy triplets, and then the viola comes in with this clumsy, trundling reply. It’s so important to play this crisply, as though it’s the continuation of a bouncy ball springing lightly from the violins into the viola part, like little sparkles in the ice. Then, in bar 373, I play up for the low and singing melodic material, before the bouncing triplets make a cheeky return from bar 379.

To identify which things feel unnatural and what doesn’t quite line up, we’ve also tried starting this with an up bow. Once we can play on an up bow as well as we can on a down, we really know it’s in our system!

Slurs, phrasing and sforzandos

We don’t decide on bowings as a group, because we’ve played together for such a long time that we respond to each other very naturally. We only match our bowings consciously when we play unison chords or need to make a very even sound. Most of Beethoven’s bowings are very playable, but sometimes we break his slurs, to avoid sounding restricted. As long as we don’t show it, I think we’re allowed to sneak in another bow, for instance in bars 160– 164, or bars 283–286. It’s hard to phrase these nicely otherwise, without having a circular bow that keeps on going!

For every sforzando – as in bars 38, 40, 57 and 67 – the sound should fit within the phrase. If you play with a downward, over-accented movement, the effect can be heavy and slow, but a horizontal action can push the music forward. Saving bow and using a horizontal motion in bar 57, for example, will help you to release into the magic C major sunshine of bar 58.

It’s also important not to add accents by mistake. I feel the urge to scream when I hear an accent on the first beat of bar 71, because it makes the phrase come to an unexpected stop! I’m careful not to land heavily on the second halves of bars 228 or 234, or to let my up bows be too obvious in bars 242 and 249, either. This is something that we all have to work against.

Harmony and colour

We have rehearsed the forte quartet chords from bar 126 a lot, to find the right balance across the group and also to understand where we are harmonically. The progression here is simple, but it’s too easy just to play everything the same, when different harmonies need different sound colours. Bar 138 is just a normal G minor chord, but we try to play it slightly longer and more sad. For the move into glorious, comfy E flat major in bar 139, I’ve written dashes on top of Beethoven’s dots, to sustain the line so that it just flies.

The pianissimo of bar 194 is actually easier to play lightly if you are using gut, because the open strings sound soft and fragile where metal strings would be too dominant. For me this works well for this delicate, scary little fugue.

Minimising vibrato

Generally speaking, we use barely any vibrato, unless it’s really needed, as for my little melody in bar 115. Bar 160 should feel like a warm bath, so I use a little vibrato and a lot of bow to bring out the resistance of the open C string before opening up for the warmest sound possible on the D flat. It’s such a glorious moment, with the first violin walking around on tiny eggshells up high. I also use a little vibrato to warm up bar 307, where the spotlight falls on to the beautiful viola part. Whenever vibrato is used, it’s nice if it is thought about. If you can get the same warmth using just the bow and resonance of the strings, there is less need for it.

Physical presence

There is a big viola moment in bar 206, where the viola responds to the violins: it’s just me against them! I pretend that I’m a huge person here: I put my shoulders down, take broad breaths and demand physical space. I wouldn’t say that it’s about acting, but having a good posture does help me to get the biggest possible sound.

I also do this for the più forte in bar 273, which I really enjoy. The viola can’t play too much on this note – it’s another glorious, luminous opening of sunshine! And in bar 349, I’ve written ‘broad shoulders and wide wings’ on my part, to allow the phrase to expand properly, and to remind myself to work against the down-beats, by spreading wide and big.

Recordings

Pablo and I like to listen to performances before starting work on a piece, without letting anything become printed in our minds, whereas Alina and Claire prefer to arrive fresh, to develop the music and trust their instincts using the score alone. I think that both approaches are healthy. My favourite recording of this piece is by the Hagen Quartet. They play at a similar tempo to us, and their playing is fresh and inspiring. They are real heroes of mine!

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING