The CSO String Quartet draws a line from Beethoven’s early triumph to his final major work.
Beethoven’s first set of string quartets, the six quartets of his Opus 18, demonstrate his command of the Classical tradition established by Mozart and Haydn. In the second concert in the Chamber Series, the CSO String Quartet pairs the sixth quartet from that set with Beethoven’s String Quartet No.16, Op.135, composed a quarter of a century later, by which time the composer was forging a path all his own.
The Sixth Quartet is a lively conversation between the four instruments, brimming with effervescent, Haydn-esque energy, offset by the darker hues of the final movement, ‘La Malinconia’. In the 16th Quartet we hear a more mature, though no less lively, Beethoven. He titled the final movement ‘Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß’ (the difficult decision) and included in the manuscript the question ‘Muß es sein?’ (must it be?) and emphatic response ‘Es muß sein!’ (it must be!), which has preoccupied Beethoven scholars ever since and even became a motif in Czech writer Milan Kundera’s 1984 novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No.6 in B flat major, Op.18 No.6
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No.16 in F major, Op.135
ARTISTS
CSO String Quartet
When
Duration
Ticket prices
| Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult | $58 - 65 |
| Concession (means-tested pensioner, full-time students) | $51 - 57 |
| Under 35 | $35 |
| Student rush | $16 |