In op.59 no.1, the first of the three ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets, all four movements are cast in first-movement (sonata) form, utilising the Hegelian principle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis: a first theme in the tonic key, a second in a contrasting key, then a development in which the elements of the two themes are set in fruitful combat with each other, and finally a conciliatory recapitulation in which the two themes are restated in the tonic. Here Beethoven almost reverts to the style of Boccherini’s early quartets, with their taste for post-Baroque ornamentation (bars 66-71), and the ‘emancipated’ cello part stating a theme that seems to flow with complete naturalness. Yet Beethoven’s sketchbooks show more than a hundred melodic and rhythmic modifications of this theme. In thus relentlessly reworking the material, the composer sought to rein in his intuition as tightly as possible in order to obtain a vital energy that would irrigate all his music. As the motoric motion increases in force, Beethoven switches to a ternary pulse, but the musicians of the Ysaÿe do not highlight the triplets that amplify this. On the contrary, they tend to obscure that pulse – a subtle interpretation that holds this effect of accumulation of energy in reserve, enabling it to emerge all the more explosively when the main theme is superimposed on the triplets and repeated notes, creating a powerful rhythmic sensation that would not displease discerning fans of hard rock! 37 QUATUOR YSAŸE
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