Beethoven String Quartet Op. 59

[HaydnFan]

I am attending a concert of Beethoven's Quartet Op. 59 (Quartet No. 7)...I am not sure of all the numbering involved because in another place it says Op. 59 N. 1 (First Razumovsky)...

...Anyway, what can I expect? Is this a good piece? I have never heard it before.

Also, if anyone is interested, I will also be hearing Haydn's "Sunrise" Op. 76 No. 4 and Quartet No. 1 by Shostakovich.

I have never heard any of these pieces.

[Peter]

There were 3 Razumovsky quartets - all are wonderful, but I especially love the first which I think is the greatest of this set. These quartets (unusual because six was the usual number in a set) were the first of Beethoven's middle period and they are a great advance on the earlier (but still fine) Op.18 quartets. This is where the confused numbering you refer to comes in because Razumovsky no.1 is actually the 7th quartet Beethoven wrote.

The Haydn "Sunrise" is a lovely piece and shows him at the height of his powers. I'm not familiar with the Shostakovich, but you are in for a sudden shock change of style! But also you will see just how far Beethoven has come from the 1790's in the first Razumovsky quartet.

------------------
'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 10-04-2006).]

[HaydnFan]

Ok, thanks Peter!

I have heard some other Shostakovich pieces and I love them so I hope I like this one too! Yes, it is quite different from Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, etc. but it is still great music!

Anyway, I look forward to the concert...can't wait!

[Michael]

If I were allowed to keep just one Beethoven work, it would be Opus 59 No. I. It was the first string quartet recording I ever bought - it must have been back in 1970, a couple of years after I first discovered Beethoven. It certainly wasn't love at first hearing because I remembering actualling disliking the piece for almost a year, though I kept on playing it.
It didn't even grow on me gradually. All I can remember is listening to it one evening through headphones and being totally blown away - as I am to this day.

Michael

[Peter]

Originally posted by Michael:
If I were allowed to keep just one Beethoven work, it would be Opus 59 No. I. It was the first string quartet recording I ever bought - it must have been back in 1970, a couple of years after I first discovered Beethoven. It certainly wasn't love at first hearing because I remembering actualling disliking the piece for almost a year, though I kept on playing it.
It didn't even grow on me gradually. All I can remember is listening to it one evening through headphones and being totally blown away - as I am to this day.

Michael

It was the first two movements, especially the first that grabbed me instantly, the other two took longer - now it is my favourite of the Razumovsky's closely followed by no.3.

No.2 has a glorious slow movement, but overall I'd place it 3 out of 3!

------------------
'Man know thyself'

[Nightklavier]

Funny how music does that, Michael. I've got a hundred tales of similar experiences. Beethoven's Septet Op. 20 and Symphony No. 4, for instance, left me bored, uninterested, or even confused. It just took multiple hearings, some concentrated and some casual, and eventually you just "get it." I went a weird alternate route to acquainting myself with the Septet, though... I listened to Liszt's stupendous piano transcription numerous times and then went back to the original form; the contrast of listening to both mediums helped me understand it even more. Beethoven's music always fares much better than some others I'm struggling with at the moment: Haydn (sorry papa!), Faure, Mahler, Scriabin.

[Michael]

I had trouble with the Septet too. Maybe it was the recording but I never got to like it until I heard Beethoven's own arrangement of it for piano trio. Even now I think I prefer the arrangement.

Michael

[Peter]

Originally posted by Michael:
I had trouble with the Septet too. Maybe it was the recording but I never got to like it until I heard Beethoven's own arrangement of it for piano trio. Even now I think I prefer the arrangement.

Michael

I think even Beethoven came to loathe its popularity - a bit like Rachmaninov and that c# minor prelude!

------------------
'Man know thyself'



[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 10-05-2006).]