Beethoven earlier and later

#3 in a series: Musical Puns

Beethoven’s three string trios Opus 9 are early works, written in 1797-98, when Beethoven was not yet 30. Here is the opening of the third trio, in C Minor:

Beethoven’s 14th string quartet, opus 131, in C# Minor, dates from 1826, not long before his death (March 26, 1827). Here is the opening:

Although the two works are separated by nearly three decades and inhabit entirely different musical worlds, it’s hard not to feel some affinity in the openings, even if it’s not easy to pin down.

One clue is as follows:

If we reverse the first three notes of the trio opening (Ex.1) and respell the Ab as G#, we get Ex.2, which is almost the opening of Op.131 (Ex.3). Of course the crucial fourth (“target“) note is completely different in the two cases, and that makes a world of difference.

Beethoven subjects the opening motif of opus 131 to all sorts of developments in the course of the quartet, and in particular in the last of the seven linked movements we find:

Inside the red ovals we have exactly the Op.9 #3 opening, a semitone higher. (The quartet is in C# Minor, the trio in C Minor.)

I’m not suggesting that in composing opus 131 Beethoven had his early trio, opus 9 #3, in mind! But the fact that he arrives at this motif (in the red ovals) in developing the opening motif of opus 131 is certainly another clue to the affinity one hears in the two openings.

More “puns” are on the way… stay tuned.