Late String Quartets (Beethoven)
The following set of string quartets is generally referred to as Beethoven's Late String Quartets, including the Grosse Fuge (which also exists in a piano transcription, opus 134):
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Overview
Beethoven composed these quartets in the sequence 12, 15, 13, 14, 16, with quartets 15 and 13 being written simultaneously. The first three of the quartets (numbers 12, 13 and 15) were commissioned in 1822 by Prince Nicholas Galitzin, who in a letter dated 9 November 1822 offered to pay Beethoven: "..what you think proper" for the three works. In his reply of 25 January 1823, Beethoven stated his price: 50 Ducats for each opus.[1]
Appraisal
These six quartets (counting the Große Fuge) comprise the last major, completed compositions by Beethoven, and are widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time.[2] The musicologist Theodor Adorno, in particular, thought highly of them,[3] and Igor Stravinsky described the Große Fuge as "an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever".[4] Wagner, when reflecting on Op. 131's first movement, said that they contained some of the saddest music he knew. Also, it is said that upon listening to a performance of the Op. 131 quartet, Schubert remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?"
Recordings
Ensembles that have recorded all the late string quartets by Beethoven include;
- Alban Berg Quartet, EMI (studio early 80s)
- Alban Berg Quartet, EMI (rec. live 1989)
- Alexander String Quartet, Foghorn Classics
- Amadeus Quartet, DG
- Barylli Quartet
- Borodin Quartet, Chandos
- Budapest String Quartet, Bridge (rec. 1941-60)
- Budapest String Quartet, Sony (rec. 1958-61)
- Busch Quartet, various labels (rec. 1933-41; no Grosse Fuge)
- Cleveland Quartet, RCA (1970s)
- Cleveland Quartet, Telarc (1990s)
- Colorado Quartet, Parnassus (rec. 2004-06)
- Emerson String Quartet, DG
- Endellion String Quartet, Warner Classics (2005-06)
- Gewandhaus-Quartett, New Classical Adventure (rec. live 1985-98)
- Guarneri Quartet, RCA
- Hagen Quartett, DG
- Hollywood String Quartet, Testament
- Hungarian Quartet, (1953 mono) EMI
- Hungarian Quartet, (1960s stereo) EMI
- Juilliard String Quartet, CBS studio late 60s
- Juilliard String Quartet, CBS (rec. live 1982)
- Kodaly Quartet, Naxos
- Lasalle Quartet, DG (reissued on Brilliant Classics)
- Leipziger Streichquartett, MDG
- Lindsays, ASV
- Medici Quartet, Nimbus
- Melos Quartett, DG
- Orford String Quartet, Delos
- Orion String Quartet, Koch Classics (2008)
- Petersen Quartett, Capriccio
- Prazak Quartet, Praga
- Quartetto Italiano, Decca
- Smetana Quartet, Supraphon
- Suske Quartett, Berlin Classics
- Takács Quartet, Decca (2005)
- Talich Quartet, Calliope
- Taneyev Quartet, Boheme
- Tokyo String Quartet, RCA (1993)
- Tokyo String Quartet, Harmonia Mundi (2010)
- Vanbrugh Quartet, Intim Musik (1996)
- Vermeer Quartet, Teldec, (rec. 1984-89)
- Vegh Quartet, (1952 Les Discophiles Français) Music & Arts
- Vegh Quartet, (1972 Telefunken) Naïve-Astrée
- Wihan Quartet, Nimbus
- Yale Quartet, Vanguard
See also
- ^ 'Life of Beethoven' by Alexander Thayer, Page 447
- ^ Morris, Edmund. Beethoven: The Universal Composer. New York: Atlas Books / HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-075974-7
- ^ 'Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music' by Theodor W. Adorno, pp. 123-162
- ^ Miller (2006), p. 44.
References
- Miller, Lucy, Adams to Zemlinsky (2006) Concert Artists Guild, ISBN 1-892862-09-3
External links
An analysis of the antecedents of the late quartets in Haydn's string quartets. Also [1]