Chamber Music. Radice
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Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Nationality: German
Baptized: December 17, 1770, Bonn Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna (age 56)

String Quartet No. 14 in c-sharp minor, Op. 131

(for 2 violins, viola and cello)
7:11 I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2:57 II. Allegro molto vivace
0:46 III. Allegro moderato
13:33 IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
5:01 V. Presto
2:02 VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
6:37 VII. Allegro
Duration: 40 minutes (approximately)
Composed: 1825-1826, December 1825 through August 1826, Vienna (age 54-56)
Premiere: . December 1826, Halberstadt, Saxony (Germany). The Müller Quartet
Published: 1827, April, Mainz: Schott (age 56-57)
Dedication: Baron Joseph von Stutterheim
14 recordings, 46 videos
autoopen autoplay
6:23
Guarneri Quartet
I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2:57
Guarneri Quartet
II. Allegro molto vivace
0:46
Guarneri Quartet
III. Allegro moderato
14:38
Guarneri Quartet
IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
4:59
Guarneri Quartet
V. Presto
1:47
Guarneri Quartet
VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
6:42
Guarneri Quartet
VII. Allegro
6:14
Jasper String Quartet
I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2:56
Jasper String Quartet
II. Allegro molto vivace
0:43
Jasper String Quartet
III. Allegro moderato
13:06
Jasper String Quartet
IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
4:57
Jasper String Quartet
V. Presto
1:51
Jasper String Quartet
VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
7:38
Jasper String Quartet
VII. Allegro
8:03
Takács Quartet (score)
I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2:57
Takács Quartet (score)
II. Allegro molto vivace
0:43
Takács Quartet (score)
III. Allegro moderato
13:27
Takács Quartet (score)
IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
5:02
Takács Quartet (score)
V. Presto
2:18
Takács Quartet (score)
VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
6:22
Takács Quartet (score)
VII. Allegro
37:38
Alban Berg Quartet (animation)
39:24
Danish String Quartet
39:42
Quatuor Ebène
39:00
Quatuor Mosaïques
44:11
Pascal Quartet
10:47
LaSalle Quartet
(part 1 of 4)
13:32
LaSalle Quartet
(part 2 of 4)
8:00
LaSalle Quartet
(part 3 of 4)
6:40
LaSalle Quartet
(part 4 of 4)
6:47
LaSalle Quartet
VII. Allegro
6:54
Endellion Quartet
(part 1 of 5)
2:57
Endellion Quartet
(part 2 of 5)
13:55
Endellion Quartet
(part 3 of 5)
5:03
Endellion Quartet
(part 4 of 5)
9:09
Endellion Quartet
(part 5 of 5)
42:34
Borealis String Quartet
38:52
American String Quartet
6:52
Alban Berg Quartet
I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
3:08
Alban Berg Quartet
II. Allegro molto vivace
0:53
Alban Berg Quartet
III. Allegro moderato
13:24
Alban Berg Quartet
IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
5:37
Alban Berg Quartet
V. Presto
1:36
Alban Berg Quartet
VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
6:35
Alban Berg Quartet
VII. Allegro
40:49
Afiara Quartet
From Kai Christiansen

Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827

String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, 1826

Ludwig van BeethovenWhen the Russian Prince Galitzin approached Beethoven with a commission for "one, two or three" quartets, he helped catalyze one of the most wondrous creations in all of chamber music: the ineffable "late" quartets of Beethoven. After finishing the three commissioned quartets, Beethoven kept on composing adding a forth and fifth quartet and a final revised movement comprising a singular corpus of sustained musical thought and feeling of tremendous scope and arguable unity. All for the string quartet. Spanning a working focus of two years time, these are Beethoven's final compositions, testament to his enduring devotion to the string quartet, witness to his mastery, transcendence and everlasting dominance of this august genre.

Beethoven took the classical string quartet from Haydn and Mozart and, over the course of his life, radically expanded the art form in every conceivable way. He not only made his quartets longer, more complicated and more difficult to play, more impossible, he also made them more intellectually and emotional intense. More majestic, tragic, funny, simple, brilliant, imponderable and miraculous. Simply, more profound, more alive, more vividly real. The fourth of the late quartets in the order he composed them, Op. 131 is, by ample testimony, the greatest of them all. It was Beethoven's favorite. Schubert's final musical request was to hear Beethoven's Op. 131. Wagner wrote a florid, poetic tome about the epic greatness of Op. 131. There is no ultimate objective judgment, but these are fine, suggestive pointers. It is not ingenuous to say that this just might be la crème de la crème.

With seven movements and typically, the longest duration of any of his quartets, Op. 131 would seem to be Beethoven's most expansive utterance. All seven movements are played without pause creating a single giant continuous structure embracing an initial somber but lyrical fugue, two vibrant scherzi, a colossal theme and variations, connective recitative, a wisp of heartbreaking adagio and a dazzling finale cresting in mountainous developments alongside the most delicate, visceral, effervescent and tensile textures imaginable. For both the first and the last movements, is it revealing to consider that Beethoven had composed the monolithic Op. 133 Grosse Fuge immediately prior. The central theme and variations by itself is among Beethoven's greatest creations. And it is not the technical details that most amaze. It is how the music makes one feel.

Attempting to write about Op. 131 reaches a glorious impasse: 1 word is too many, 10,000 are not enough. There is and will always be the music. Thanks to Prince Galitzin, and Beethoven.

© Kai Christiansen Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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