A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Malinconia, La

MALINCONIA, LA. The name attached by Beethoven to a very romantic intermezzo or introduction, of 44 bars length, between the Scherzo and the Finale of his Quartet in B♭, No. 6, op. 18. The time is Adagio, and the direction given is 'Questo pezzo si deve trattare colla più gran delicatezza.' The theme of the Malinconia appears twice in the Finale, much in the same way that the Andante does in that of the Quintet, op. 29.

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