String Quartet No. 2 (Beethoven)

String Quartet
No. 2
Early string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, c. 1796
KeyG major
Opus18, No. 2
Composed1798–1800
DedicationJoseph Franz von Lobkowitz
Published1801
MovementsFour

The String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2 (actually his third), was written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1798 and 1800 and published in 1801, dedicated to Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz.

It consists of four movements:

  1. Allegro (G major)
  2. Adagio cantabile – Allegro – Tempo I (C major)
  3. Scherzo: Allegro (G major)
  4. Allegro molto, quasi presto (G major)

Of the Op. 18 string quartets, this one is the most grounded in 18th-century musical tradition.[1] According to Michael Steinberg, "In German-speaking countries, the graceful curve of the first violin's opening phrase has earned the work the nickname of Komplimentier-Quartett, which might be translated as 'quartet of bows and curtseys'."[2]

The nickname may have originated from one of Haydn's last string quartets written about the same time (Op. 77, No. 1, Hob. III:81; 1799), which was also known as the Komplimentier-Quartett. Haydn was Beethoven's teacher at the time, and there are similarities in style between the two quartets. They are also both in the key of G major.[3]

After he finished the quartet, Beethoven was not satisfied with the second movement and wrote a replacement. Sketches of the original slow movement survive and a complete version has been reconstructed by musicologist Barry Cooper.[4] It was performed publicly, possibly for the first time, by the Danel Quartet in the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall at the Martin Harris Centre, University of Manchester, on 30 September 2011.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Winter & Martin 1994, p. 155.
  2. ^ Winter & Martin 1994, p. 156.
  3. ^ "The string quartets of Joseph Haydn", Banat Blog (in German), 19 April 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2011. [dead link]
  4. ^ " 'Lost' Beethoven work to be aired", BBC News, 28 September 2011, retrieved 12 October 2011.