Louis Spohr wrote four chamber works in a little-used form, the double string quartet. It’s not the same as a string octet; rather, it presents two quartets playing antiphonally and occasionally together. In performance, they’re seated on opposite sides of the stage. This kind of piece is best appreciated by attending a live performance near the stage or using headphones.

His first double quartet, Opus 65, written in 1823, makes good use of the opportunity for back-and-forth music. Performances are likely to involve two existing quartets getting together, in which case the second quartet would feel cheated; most of the good lines go to quartet 1. More specifically, violin 1:1 (the first violin of quartet 1) dominates the music; in early performances, it would have been Spohr himself. His later works in the form treat the two groups more equally.

The opening movement, in D minor, starts dramatically with a motif reminiscent of Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony in D major. This motif dominates the movement in many guises. In a typical Spohr move, the second theme uses the same motif in F major, turned into a lyrical theme. An inverted version of it closes out the exposition, and the development does still more tricks with it. This movement is the longest one by a significant margin. Just five measures from the end, it seems it will end in a typical forte cadence, but then it diminishes, violin 2:2 descends chromatically from C natural to A, and the movement ends softly on a D major chord.

The second movement, in G minor, is a lively scherzo with some startling modulations. The trio is in G major with an excursion to B-flat.

The third movement, Larghetto in B flat, is short yet overstays its welcome. It builds on a phrase, promising enough by itself, that repeats with little variation to the point of annoyance. Like the first and second movements, it ends quietly with a hint of chromaticism.

The finale is marked with the odd tempo “Allegretto molto,” which translates as something like “very somewhat fast.” The music invites a lively performance, with showy eighth-note passages in 2/2 time for quartet 1. The second-string quartet gets none of the fun; in fact, there are antiphonal hand-offs within quartet 1, which seems to miss the point of a double quartet. The second theme provides a nice contrast, with a sneaky ascending passage in staccato notes, while quartet 2 has to settle for repeated notes. The development section lets quartet 2 participate more equally, and the recapitulation goes straight to the second theme. The movement seems it might end quietly like the others, but then it builds to a satisfying fortissimo conclusion in D major.

Double quartets provide some interesting performance opportunities. A well-known quartet could use one to share the stage with an up-and-coming group they want to help. An orchestra could put together a performance with its first and second-chair players.

While researching this post, I came across an enjoyable story of how Spohr stood up to a king in 1807. Clive Brown’s biography confirms the story, providing the important detail that the kingdom in question was Württemburg. Germany had lots of small kingdoms at the time. In Brown’s account,

Spohr gave another characteristic example of his artistic pride by insisting that he would not play at court unless the customary card games were suspended during his performance, and contrary to his expectations the condition was agreed to. During the rest of the concert, however, cards were played as usual and, to Spohr’s utter disgust, as soon as the king had finished his game the music was instantly terminated in the middle of a cadence. The petty tyranny and squalid corruption which Spohr observed in Württemburg can only have helped to strengthen his dissatisfaction with the political state of Germany and to fuel his misgivings about unchecked monarchial government.

Here’s a link to the the double quartet with score on YouTube.

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