String Quintet, WoO 62 1. Andante maestoso - Allegro (Adrian Gagiu)
Regrettably, the original of Beethoven's last substantial (but incomplete) work, a string quintet in C, no longer exists. All that remains is a piano reduction of the introduction to the first movement and a variety of sketches for all four movements, scattered in various archives. Like the Tenth Symphony, these fragments are irresistible and several composers have tried their hand at making sense of these vibrant sketches. We are pleased to present here a realization by composer Adrian Gagiu.
The score may be downloaded at this link. Following is Adrian Gagiu's introduction to his realization.
© Adrian Gagiu 2021
PREFACE
This composition is a speculative “embodiment” of Beethoven’s sketches for his String Quintet in C major, Hess 41 (WoO 62), as they have been left by the composer. The usefulness and integrity of more or less hypothetical “completions” of sketches by great composers remains from case to case controversial. Due to the paucity of the sketches for the aim of attempting a true “reconstruction”, the present composition in no way falls within such category. It is obviously quite different from what Beethoven himself would have produced if he had lived more, also due to the fact that he usually transformed his preliminary sketches substantially during the compositional process. However, there are some of his frequent, subtle thematic relationships between the sketches for the Quintet movements, and probably some features in the sketches would have been kept in the completed composition. The four-movement design hypothesized by Martin Staehelin and others, as well as other retrospective or relaxed features in the sketches may be a result of a still early stage of the compositional process, or perhaps an indicator of a “fourth”, “neoclassical” creative period, together with Op. 135 and the new Finale for Op. 130.
To generate a continuity draft of the Quintet, all of Beethoven’s sketches for it were used, with the addition of several ones from the same context within the respective sketchbook and which could be related to the identified Quintet sketches: some sketches are clearly labeled as being for the Quintet, while others are thematically related or written down close to them. With the possible exception of bars 75-94 and 136-155 in movement II (which are variations on the theme) and bars 140-145 in movement IV (which fill in the blank bars in the sketch with a progression based on it), virtually every bar of this composition includes the notes from the sketches in at least one of the instruments. Some of those notes were subject to transpositions and adaptations to fit the formal design, and to editorial choices for the unclear pitches and durations in the sketches.
This publication includes the score, parts and continuity draft, the latter being marked with the sources in the sketches for each passage.
The movements:
I. Andante maestoso – Allegro……………………………………………………………1
II. Andante………………………………………………………………………………….26
III. Presto…………………………………………………………………………………….46
IV. Allegro moderato – Allegro ma non troppo…………………………………………..66
The sketches and other sources for this composition, with their dates and content, are the following:
1. Berlin, Autograph 10/2, pp. 1-6’ (Nov. 1826, perhaps until March 1827 according to Schindler; probably only String Quintet/I, III, IV);
2. Berlin, Autograph 24 (“Kullak Sketchbook”), pp. 52-53’, 59-60’ (Oct./Nov. 1825 – Nov. 1826; Op. 135/I-IV, Op. 130/VI, String Quintet/I?, II?, III, IV);
3. Bonn, NE 101 (late 1826 – early 1827; sketch leaf: String Quintet/IV score sketch);
4. Paris, Ms. 62 (2), p. 1 (autumn 1826; Op. 135/IV, Op. 130/VI, String Quintet/II, IV?);
5. Paris, Ms. 66 (9), p. 1 (autumn 1826; Op. 135/II, III, Op. 130/VI, String Quintet/II?);
6. Vienna, A53, pp. 1, 2’ (late 1826; Op. 130/VI score sketch, String Quintet/I, IV);
7. “Letzter musikalischer Gedanke”, WoO 62 (Nov. 1826; Introduction to String Quintet/I, in Diabelli’s arrangements for fortepiano two hands and four hands published in 1838);
8. Presto for fortepiano, WoO 52 (1795, first intended for Op. 10 No. 1, revised in 1798 and then again in 1822 for an intended publication of Bagatelles; thematically related to String Quintet/III).
Adrian Gagiu
April 2021
WoO: 62