FLINDERS QUARTET
Elizabeth Sellars • violin
Wilma Smith • violin
Helen Ireland • viola
Zoe Knighton • cello

AGATHA YIM, POLYPHONIC PICTURES filming and editing
THOMAS GRUBB, MANO MUSICA sound engineering, editing and mastering

Filmed August 2024 in the Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, Wurundjeri Country/Southbank

This project was made possible through support from Creative Victoria and FQ’s Fifth String donors

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN  1770-1827
String Quartet No.6, Op.18, No.6 (composed 1798-1800)
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. La Malinconia: Adagio – Allegretto quasi Allegro

The quartets of Haydn and Mozart loomed large in front of Beethoven and there was no pushing them into his periphery. However, after having paid tribute to these two greats in the early quartets of the Op.18 set, Beethoven uses this sixth quartet to hint at a new era and begins to challenge compositional conventions by finding a voice that was entirely his own. Beethoven’s writing for string quartet heralded the beginning of professional string quartets, as the demands on the players were too great for the average amateur.

The first movement of this B flat major quartet follows conventional form, with the opening theme immediately conversational as it passes through the members of the quartet. Evidence from Beethoven’s sketchbook suggests this movement is the precursor to his Op.22 piano sonata in B flat. Indeed, his writing for string quartet had a little way to catch up to his writing for solo piano. With no sustain pedal, four individuals wrestling to find a unified sound, and no brass to hide behind, Beethoven was experimenting to find his own voice in the genre.

The third movement will have you scratching your head about the rhythmic meter; a game Beethoven enjoyed playing. The constant use of syncopations to create interest and to ensure his audience remained attentive to the music is counteracted by the most charming trio.

It is the last movement, his La Malinconia, where things begin to take a left turn into unchartered waters. The score states that it is to be played with the greatest amount of delicacy possible but the emotions it encompasses take it from the incredibly fragile to the most vehement sounds from Beethoven’s quartets to date, precursing his later quartets. This introduction hangs on the edge for a longer than comfortable moment before the Allegretto quasi Allegro emerges, full of playful, satirical wit. Beethoven’s profundity returns in the form of the Malinconia a number of times before giving the allegretto material one final burst with the marking prestissimo; as fast as possible.