Guarneri’s Beethoven: the Late Quartets

A little over a week ago, I began my “Beethoven Journey” through the string quartets composed by Ludwig van Beethoven on recordings of performances by the Guarneri Quartet. I began that journey with the “middle” quartets from Opus 59 and Opus 74. This morning I completed the second stage of that journey, which involved listening to the five “late” quartets. Ironically, my listening experiences were augmented last night, when I had the opportunity to listen to the Opus 127 quartet in E-flat major performed by the Isidore String Quartet.

Title page of the first edition of Opus 133 (published by Artaria in 1827, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

That quartet is the earliest of the five. The remaining four are as follows:

1. Opus 130 in B-flat major: This quartet was planned in six movements. The last of these was to be an extended fugue. However, that composition was so elaborate and lengthy that Beethoven detached it, publishing it separately as the Opus 133 “Grosse Fuge.” He then composed a shorter Finale for Opus 130.
2. Opus 131 in C-sharp minor: seven movements, the longest being in the middle
3. Opus 132 in A minor: five movements
4. Opus 135 in F major: the only four-movement composition, whose last movement amounts to existential reflection

All of these works receive a generous amount of attention. Indeed, it would not surprise me to learn that there is a “bluffer’s guide” to facilitate conversation when the topic turns to any of them. For the most part, I avoid such conversations, since I have no desire to either advocate or criticize. When properly performed, each of the pieces consistently makes me sit up and take notice. That includes Opus 133, which definitely lives up to its title!

Of course, these are not the only recordings of the Beethoven quartets in my collection. However, when I was living in Stamford, Connecticut, I had plenty of opportunities to listen to all of them over the course of my trips into Manhattan. Most of those opportunities involved the Guarneri Quartet, and they definitely made for edge-of-your-seat listening! The recordings may not have quite such an intense impact; but, for me at least, they trigger no end of very pleasant memories.