The String Quartet No. 16 in
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor.
The F major scale is:
:
F major is the ...
,
Op. 135, by
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
was written in October 1826
and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the
Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the ''
Große Fuge
The ''Grosse Fuge'' (German spelling: ''Große'' ''Fuge'', also known in English as the ''Great Fugue'' or ''Grand Fugue''), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. An immense double fugue, it was ...
'', was composed later. The work was premiered by the
Schuppanzigh Quartet The Schuppanzigh Quartet was a string quartet formed in Vienna in the 1790s by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. It continued, with breaks and changes of members, for many years. Schuppanzigh was a close friend and admirer of Ludwig van Beethoven, ...
in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.
The Op. 135 quartet is the shortest of Beethoven's
late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß" (The Difficult Decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript "Muß es sein?" (Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, "Es muß sein!" (It must be!).
It is in four
movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
:
# Allegretto (F major)
# Vivace (F major)
# Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo (D major)
# "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß". Grave, ma non troppo tratto ("Muss es sein?") – Allegro ("Es muss sein!") – Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro (F minor – F major)
The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes.
Notes
External links
Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet*
Performanceby the
Borromeo String Quartet
The Borromeo String Quartet is an American string quartet, in residence at the New England Conservatory since 1992. They have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, at numerous festivals and in many distinguished chamber mu ...
from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...
in
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
format
String quartet 16
1826 compositions
Compositions in F major
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