Late String Quartets (Beethoven)

Late String Quartets (Beethoven)

The following set is generally referred to as Beethoven's Late String Quartets, including the Grosse Fuge (which also exists in a piano transcription, opus 134)::*Opus 127: String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major (1825):*Opus 130: String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major (1825):*Opus 131: String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor (1826):*Opus 132: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor (1825):*Opus 133: Große Fuge in B flat major for string quartet (1826), originally the finale to op. 130:*Opus 135: String Quartet No. 16 in F major (1826)

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 offered Beethoven 50 ducats for each opus.

Appraisal

Together, all five quartets comprise the last major, completed compositions by Beethoven, and are widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time,Fact|date=October 2007 though they are also notoriously difficult for audiences to digest. Musicologist Theodor Adorno, in particular, thought highly of them, and composer Igor Stravinsky is reputed to have believed the Grosse Fuge to be the greatest piece of music ever written. Wagner, when reflecting on Op. 131's first movement, said that they contained some of the saddest music he knew.

Footnotes

ee also

List of compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven


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