Playing with Time: The Heiliger Dankgesang and the Evolution of Narrative Liberation in Op. 132

Abstract

The central movement of Beethoven's A-minor quartet Op. 132, the famous Heiliger Dankgesang, creates an experience of temporal meaning independent of narrative context and provides the basis for a deep, nonlinear connection between its internal language and apparently distant events. One such event is the surprising A-major ending of the Finale, which seems to come out of nowhere and yet also to function as an internally justified liberation from the narrative. The A-minor opening of the quartet's finale acts as a conveyer of narrative time, while the Heiliger Dankgesang creates a world that is isolated from this tonal narrative, disrupting and enriching the experience of time and preparing the way for the finale surprise. Beethoven's sketches support this reading of temporal events by revealing specific nonlinear connections between the third movement and the finale's playful liberation.