Whenever Gustav Mahler spoke of Beethoven, he did so with an air of reverence: 'Among poets and composers of more recent times we can, perhaps.!
Beethoven’s String Quartets
This article was originally published on the Duke Performances blog
Composed between 1798 and 1826, a span of not quite three decades, Beethoven’s sixteen string quartets have continued to exude their magic over the rich traditions of Western chamber music for now approaching two centuries.
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When Beethoven arrived in Vienna from Bonn in 1792, to receive, according to his patron Count Waldstein, Mozart’s spirit from Haydn, the young musician strove to establish himself as a pianist, in order to gain entrance into the salons of the aristocrats who were the principal arbiters of musical taste in the Imperial city.
But chamber music was never far from his mind; one of Beethoven’s treasured possessions was a matched set of string instruments from Prince Carl Lichnowsky, and Beethoven himself was an experienced violist, having played during his youth in the court orchestra of Bonn.
It was just a matter of time before he tried his own hand composing for