Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 59, No. 3, 'rasumovsky' And Op. 127

Description

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)String Quartet in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 (Razumovsky)String Quartet in E flat major, Op.127 Just how when and where the first string quartet cameabout is something of a mystery, although music for four voices can certainlybe traced back to medieval times and something like an original version of aquartet for strings can be traced back to Gregorio Allegri at the beginning ofthe seventeenth century. What is certain is that by the mid-eighteenth century,quartets were in existence for a combination of two violins, viola and cello bycomposers such as Franz Xaver Richter and Luigi Boccherini, not to mention thestart of a large collection of quartets by Joseph Haydn. Haydn was responsiblefor the major developments in the quartet during his lifetime. His first stringquartet dates from the 1750s and his last unfinished Opus 103 fromtowards the end of his life in 1803. Haydn developed the quartet along the lines of theeighteenth century symphony and in that he was followed and imitated by Mozartand his contemporaries. The quartet was a symphony in miniature; suitable forplaying with friends at home and by amateur music enthusiasts. In the daysbefore recorded music, this was home entertainment at its best. Haydn and Mozarttogether probably account for almost half of the string quartet repertory eventoday. But among the newcomers who were to add to the repertoireand broadening of both style and form of the quartet, none was to be more influentialthan Beethoven. There is no more individual voice in quartet writing throughouthistory than his. Beethoven stretched the symphony and the quartet to limits incomprehensibleto his own audience and truly remarkable even to listeners today. Beethoven's life crossed the frontiers from a sedateeighteenth century into the turmoil of Romanticism, the onset of Napoleon'sdream of conquering Europe and the beginnings of the nationalist revolutionsthat tore the continent apart. Born in Bonn in Germany in 1770, he soon movedto Vienna. Unlike his predecessors, he was less interested in working forpatrons than composing what he wanted to. His lack of any sort of morality alsoputs him in a totally different class from Haydn and his followers, Beethoven wassaid to have had countless illicit affairs with women, married or not, and tohave fathered several children. He never settled down and lived a life of disarrayin often the filthiest of lodgings. Fighting against convention and always ready to developnew musical ideas, he was seen as a virtually god-like figure by many of his admirers.Revered still by those who hardly know his music, his name is universal. Hisdeeply unhappy and somewhat unpleasant character was due to his disappointmentsin life, culminating in deafness and illness, but never stopping him from pushingthe limits of music. His piano playing was such that from frustration with thelimitations of old instruments he was often seen to hit the keys so hard that