Jörg Widmann: Cavatina: Quatuor à Cordes

I consider Beethoven’s String Quartet op. 130 with its Grosse Fuge as the pinnacle of all quartets. In each of the four movements, Beethoven succeeds in re-inventing the archetypal movement forms with equal intensity, meaning that they are consequently nothing like what they once were. My Beethoven Studies (String Quartets 6-10) explore the cosmos of this so very unique quartet to a greater or lesser degree, and in explicit form in this concluding quartet of the cycle. The Cavatina from op. 130 is one of the most emotional movements ever written by Beethoven. Although some of the original material can be recognised in my own Cavatina, I consider it as one of the most personal and freest movements of my entire quartet cycle. This is a free form of ardent singing and flowing, marking the conclusion of the cycle which grappled so vehemently and sensuously with the cosmos of Beethoven’s quartets. Everything hovers … into the open … into free space. Jörg Widmann