Beethoven's String Quartets

Harvard FAS

Since the late eighteenth century, composers have often reserved their most ambitious and complex thoughts for their string quartets. The ensemble of two violins, viola and cello can create a homogeneous sound but also has an enormous potential for sonic variety. Beethoven's sixteen quartets span almost his entire creative output, ranging from the classical Six Quartets, Op. 18 of 1800, to the transcendent, pioneering late quartets, the last completed in 1826, the year before his death in…