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Passing over a visit to Leipsic where he studied with the keenest delight a number of the unpublished works of the great Sebastian Bach and to Berlin, he returned to Vienna, and at once set to work upon some quartets which the King of Prussia had ordered from him.
In a comparatively long life, long at least by the side of that of a Mozart or a Moussorgsky, he succeeded in producing only a single opera, "Prince Igor," two symphonies and the torso of a third, a symphonic sketch, "On the Steppes," two string quartets, and a score of songs. And many of these works are incomplete.
We ought to have had him up to sing before this, but I have been so busy since your illness that it slipped my mind." Miss Winthrop now led Christine to the piano, and she played a classical piece of music in faultless taste. Then followed duets, solos, quartets, choruses, and instrumental pieces, for nearly all present were musical amateurs.
In these last quartets Beethoven has already set forth the principle which was to become the basis of modern polyphony: 'first of all to allow each voice to express itself freely and fully, and afterward to see what the relations were of one to the other. In fact, no one has exercised a more revolutionary effect on the quartet than Beethoven no one has made it attain so great a degree of progress.
Pro primo, I must tell you how much I regret that you, my much-loved brother in the science of music, did not give me some hint, so that I might have offered you my quartets, as well as many other things that I have now disposed of.
Despite his uncouth manners and appearance, his genius, up to the point at least when it took its highest flights in the "Ninth Symphony" and the last quartets, was appreciated; and he was a figure in Viennese society. The Brunswick house was one of many that were open to him. The Brunswicks were art lovers. Franz, the son of the house, was the composer's intimate friend.
The stage should then be made more intimate for the solos, duets, trios, and quartets among the acrobats. I think a larger public should be made aware of the beauty and skill of these people, who spend their lives in perfecting grace and power of body, creating the always fascinating pattern and form, orchestration if you will, the orchestration of the muscles into a complete whole.
But Schönberg, Reger, Ravel quartets make too great a demand on the technical ability of the average quartet amateur. "Naturally, the first violin is the leader, the Conductor of the quartet, as in its early days, although the 'star' system, with one virtuose player and three satellites, has disappeared.
He elaborated the recitative or declamatory element in opera with great care, and insisted that his singers should make this the object of their most careful efforts. The arias, duos, quartets, etc., as well as the choruses and orchestral parts, were made consistent with the dramatic motive and situations.
But if his brother's marriage was an occasion for humor at the beginning, it lapsed afterward into the sternest tragedy in its effect on the master's life, as will be seen further on in these pages. These quartets are monuments to Beethoven's genius and are classed among the best examples of chamber-music.
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