Bartók's Most Daring Concept of a Palindromic Structure: The Sonata-Form Opening Movement of the Fifth Quartet

Abstract

In movement I of String Quartet no. 5 inversion shapes of the themes are recapitulated in reverse order – probably the most daring concept of a palindromic structure of a sonata-form movement in Bartók's realm. After all, for him a strict hin und zurück form with strong thematic characters was unthinkable. Already the strategy of this opening movement involved danger. If Theme I after a transition leads to Theme II, which leads to Theme III, as a dramatic series of actions, how could the reverse order of these themes be “natural”? To minimize the danger, in this movement Bartók reconsidered the usual dramaturgy of the exposition. Instead of a continuous growth of the musical “scenes” welded together, he presented three thematic blocks very much different in character, heavily punctuated by fragments of the first theme. Therefore, dramatic contrast rather than organic development is the key term, and so the reverse order of the thematic blocks in the recapitulation is less artificial.