The Grosse Fugues Compared:
Beethoven's Op. 133, 134

The extraordinary Grosse Fugue originally comprised the final movement of the String Quartet Op. 130. Beethoven sold his new String Quartet for 80 ducats to Mathia Artaria on January 9, 1826, and Artaria paid him a further 15 ducats to compose a new finale for the quartet. In addition Artaria commissioned Anton Halm to make an arrangement for piano duet of the Grosse Fuge. Halm sent his transcription to Beethoven on 24 April 1826, but it did not satisfy Beethoven. So Beethoven, after writing the new finale movement for the Quartet, published the fugue separately as Op. 133, , and then wrote his own transcription of the Fugue for piano, four hands, Op. 134, which he sold to Artaria for 12 ducats. Artaria & Co. published the whole String Quartet, the new finale, and the arrangement of the Grosse Fuge for four-hand piano in May 1827, a few months after Beethoven’s death.

The Grosse Fuga Op. 134 along with a great number of Beethoven’s works was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainer. Beethoven left behind a relatively few four-hand works, which with the exception of the Grosse Fuga, are light pieces with great charm and humor. In contrast, the Grosse Fuga is an exceptionally complex, difficult, unpianistic and nearly unplayable piece of music. Yet as an essay on the art of the fugue, it is at the composer’s highest level of imagination, skill and creativity with extremely interesting and carefully crafted details.

The monumental and aurally significant changes the composer made from Op. 133 to Op. 134 raise important questions. Surely the purpose of this Herculean task cannot be mere financial gain, as has been supposed, and obviously Op. 134 is not just another direct arrangement from a string quartet to a piano, four-hand piece. If it were, why would Beethoven have given it a separate opus number? Perhaps Beethoven was trying to express an altogether new musical statement, or he was viewing a new horizon where none had been before. Whatever the answers, the pleasure for player and listener alike is to experience what difference the difference makes.

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Comparison between string quartet score (op. 133) and the piano four-hand urtext score (op. 134): 

1.)  Measures 1-24  We can see very obvious changes from the very beginning. 

• The dotted half note in the first measure in the string quartet part is expended into two measures of sixteenth notes plus a held long chord.  

• The dynamic marking is also changed from f to ff. 

• The f in both m11 and m14 are taken out in op. 134. 

• The cello part in m15 is removed in op. 134 as well.

2.)  Measures 25-49

• The sempre pp in m27 is missing in op. 134. 

• The last note of m28 and the last note of the viola part in m33 are changed from a “B” to a “C”. 

• The first dynamic marking in m35 is changed from sf to ff. 

• In m36, the sf in the first violin and cello are changed to f. 

• The first violin part from m35 to m42 is switched around in different octaves. 

• The notes of the first violin part in the third and the fourth beats in m 38 are completely altered. 

• The sf in the second violin part in m 43 is changed to f. 

• The notes in the third and fourth beats of the viola part in m44 are completed changed. 

• The sf in the first violin part in m46 are changed to f. 

• The third and fourth beat of the second violin part are added a sf and a f.

3.)  Measures 50-62

• The cello part from m50 to m57 is added an octave  

• From m51, the sf in the cello is changed f until m53. 

• The sf in the viola part in m59 are changed to f. 

• The notes in the first two beats of the first violin part are altered.

4.)  Measures 63-110

• The sf on the last beat in m63 and the second beat in m 64 in the first violin part are changed to f.  

• The third beat of m67 in the first violin part has a ff mark in the quartet version, but it is taken out in the four-hand score. 

• The first violin doesn’t have f on every beat from m82 to89, but they are written in the four-hand version. 

• From m96 to the downbeat of 98, the quartet version has no dynamic markings at all, but the four-hand version’s cello and viola parts both have a ff , then sf and f on every beat. 

• The last beats of m104 in violin parts and viola part have a sf marking, but the four-hand version has no dynamic indication at the same place. 

• From m105 to 106, the sf in the off beats are not shown in the four-hand version. 

• The ff in the second beat of m107 is not shown in the four-hand version. 

• The bass from m105 to 108 is thickened by octaves.

5.)  Measures 111-146

• The f in the third beat of the first violin part in m111 is changed to sf. 

• The first beat of m113 and the first and second beats of m114 in the first violin part are added f markings. 

• In the viola part from m116 to m119, all the sf are changed to f. 

• The first sf in the viola in m115 is changed to a ff. 

• The first sf in the cello part in mm117 and 118 are changed to f. 

• From m123 to 128, the cello part is raised an octave higher. 

• From m136 to m138 all the sf are changed to f. 

• The sf in the first beat of m143 is changed to ff. 

• The sf  from the third beat of m143 are all changed to f. 

• Also from the third beat of m145, all the sf are changed to f.

6.)  Measures 146-151

• The first sf in m 147, 148 and 150 are all changed to ff. 

• The third and fourth sf in m147, 148 and 150 are changed to f. 

• The third beat in m150 is changed from ff to sf. 

• The last sf in m150 in the second violin part until the third sf of m151 are changed to f. 

• The second and third beats of the viola part are changed from sf to f.

7.)  Measures 152-230

• The pp in the second violin part is missing in the four-hand version. 

• The articulations are slightly different in the second violin part in m 160; the slur is connected to the first note of the next measure.  

• In m161, the second violin and cello parts are both added dots with slurs. 

• The slur in the second beat of m208 is connected to the next down beat in m209. 

• The long slur is broken up in m215, and another slur starts at the second beat of m215 to the end of m216 in the four-hand version. 

• In m 221 and 222, the viola part is added dots with slurs. 

• The cello articulation from m223 to 226 is rearranged: instead of having slurs on sixteenth notes, the slur is extended from the sixteenth note to the next eighth note. 

• In m227, the sixteenth notes are added dots with slurs. 

• In m229, only the viola part and the second violin part are added dots with slurs.

8.)  Measures 239-270

• In m 239, a p is added in the first piano part. 

• In m244 and 245, the viola part is written as double notes. 

• In m265, the second beat of the cello part is written as a triad instead of a single note.

9.)  Measures 270-376

• The f in m282 is taken out in the four-hand version.  

• Ben marcato with staccato in the viola part of m287 is taken out, as well as in the second violin part in m295, and the first violin part in m303. 

• The sf in m311 and 312 in the cello and m319 and 320 in the viola part are taken out. 

• The trill in the second violin part in m312 is taken out. 

• The staccato in the cello part in m325, 329, 333, 337, 339, 341, 343, and 349 are all taken out. 

• The sf in the first violin part in m 340 is missing. 

• The cello part in m362 is changed from ff to sf. 

• All the articulations in the second violin part from m365 to m382 are all taken out. 

• The staccatos on the quarter notes are taken out again from m365 to 368 and 376. 

• The sf in m 370 is changed to ff. 

• The held G-flat note in the cello part is thickened by adding a lower octave in m371.

10.)  Measures 378-419 

• The bass line is lowered an octave from m378 to 401. 

• Starting from m402, the bass goes two octaves even lower. 

• A lot of sf are missing from m391 to 412. 

• The cello part is missing sf in m391, 397, 398, 401, 404, 408, 410, and 412. 

• All the sf in the viola part from m406 to 410 are taken out. 

• The second violin part is missing sf in m410 and 412.

11.)  Measures 420-490

• The figure is changed to from m420 to 447. 

• In m420, the dynamic marking in the viola part is changed to ff then sf. 

• There are sf added to the last note in the cello part of m424 and the last note in the second violin part of m428. 

• The third note of the first violin part is added a sf. In m451 and 452, the first and second violin parts are fulfilled with chords. 

• Adding a lower octave thickens the cello part from m453 to 460. 

• The sf in both the viola and cello in m465 are changed to ff. 

• Sf in the first violin part is missing in m479, 481, and 485. 

• In the second violin part, ff is changed to sf in m473, sf in m475 and 476 are changed to f, 

• ff in m477 is taken out. 

• Starting from m477, the cello part is doubled an octave and sf is added in m478 and f are added from m479 to 488 every measure in the cello.

12.)  Measures 491-520

• All the sf are changed to f in m494, 501, and 502. 

• Starting from the second beat of m502, the bass is doubled with an octave until the first beat of m506. Then starting the second beat of m506, the bass is written in an octave lower until m511. 

• The ff in the viola part in m510 is taken out. 

• The f is added in m515 in the first violin part.

13.)  Measures 516-629

• There is a p added in m535 in the second violin part. 

• The slur in m599 in the second violin part is connected to the downbeat of the next measure. 

• The slur in the second violin part in m563 is now connecting from B-natural to the downbeat of the next measure. 

• Both sf are missing in m569 in viola and cello. Both sf in the cello in m577 and 578 are taken out. 

• Sempre pp are missing in the viola part in m585, and the first violin part in m593. 

• Starting from m597 to 608, both the cello and the viola are added staccatos

14.)  Measures 630-660

• From m633 to 636, all the staccatos are taken out 

• Every beat in m633 and 634 is added f. 

• The f in the first violin part in m630 is changed to sf.

15.)  Measures 661-701

• All the sf are changed to f in m666 and 667. 

• Starting from m663 to 673, the cello is doubled an octave. 

• Starting from m673, the cello is written an octave lower until m681. 

• A p is missing in m687 in the first violin part. 

• The phrasings are rearranged starting from m693:
  The slur connects from m693 to 696, another slur in the first violin part starts from m698 to 701.

16.)  Measures 702-END

• The viola is rewritten from m716 to the end: Instead of repeated double notes, Beethoven changed it to breaking chords. 

• All the slurs are taken out from m717 to732. 

• The cello part is written an octave lower from m716 to723. 

• From m724 to727 the bass is doubled, and again from m730 to732. 

• The ff in m737 is shifted to m 736. 

• The second violin part is rewritten from m733 to the end: instead of straight eighth notes, it is changed to a quarter note and a eighth note figure. ###

   
                                       Teresa Szu-pei Yu        

Teresa Szu-pei Yu, a native of Taiwan, ROC  is a graduate student in Piano Studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

© Teresa Szu-pei Yu, All Rights Reserved