The sixteenth quartet, last of the series, is rather different from the philosophical quartets that immediately preceded it. It is, on the whole, of lighter weight, though its brief “Lento assai” movement touches hands with the ineffable Cavatina of the B-flat Quartet. It is the shortest, though one of the most moving, of Beethoven’s slow movements. The last movement opens with a three-note motto under which the composer wrote the words “Must it be?” and followed it with another three-note theme (Allegro) inscribed with the words “It must be!” Explanations have been numerous and often far-fetched. There is reason to believe that this formula and the musical embodiments of this interrogation and answer must be construed in the light of the master’s philosophy, with its cheerful acceptance of the inevitable. It looks almost like a purposeful reversion to the mood of “La malinconia” episode in the B-flat Quartet of opus 18.
COMPLETE LIST OF RECORDINGS BY THE PHILHARMONIC-SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
LP—Also available on Long Playing Microgroove Recordings as well as on the conventional Columbia Masterworks.
Barber—Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 Beethoven—Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra in C major (with J. Corigliano, L. Rose and W. Hendl)—LP Beethoven—Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major (“Emperor”) (with Rudolf Serkin, piano)—LP Beethoven—Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra (with Joseph Szigeti)—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”)—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 5 in C minor—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 8 in F major—LP Beethoven—Symphony No. 9 in D minor (“Choral”) (with Elena Nikolaidi, contralto, and Raoul Jobin, tenor)—LP Brahms—Song of Destiny (with Westminster Choir)—LP Dvorak—Slavonic Dance No. 1 Dvorak—Symphony No. 4 in G Major—LP Mahler—Symphony No. 4 in G major (with Desi Halban, soprano)—LP Mahler—Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor Mendelssohn—Concerto in E minor (with Nathan Milstein, violin)—LP Mendelssohn—Scherzo (from Midsummer Night’s Dream) Mozart—Cosi fan Tutti—Overture Mozart—Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), K. 551—LP Schubert—Symphony No. 7 in C major—LP Schumann, R.—Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Rhenish”)—LP Smetana—The Moldau (“Vltava”)—LP Strauss, J.—Emperor Waltz
