String Quintet, Op. 104

[AeolianHarp]

I am listening to this on Beethoven radio- not heard it before. What do you all think of it as opposed to hearing it as a piano trio?

I think its really well as a Quintet, but I prefer it with the piano.

[Michael]

I prefer the original too but it works well as a quintet. It's not usually included in the canon because it wasn't arranged entirely by Beethoven. I think somebody else did this and B looked it over and made some corrections.

A much better quintet, that is often overlooked, is his Opus 4 which is a re-working (by Beethoven himself) of an earlier wind octet. It was not merely arranged for string quintet but effectively re-composed and there are many differences - including that of length - between the two works.

The crown of his string quintets is, I think, the glorious Opus 29, which in some ways is superior to any of the Opus 18 quartets and should be regarded as a middle-period work.

[Zevy]

I prefer the original too but it works well as a quintet. It's not usually included in the canon because it wasn't arranged entirely by Beethoven. I think somebody else did this and B looked it over and made some corrections.

A much better quintet, that is often overlooked, is his Opus 4 which is a re-working (by Beethoven himself) of an earlier wind octet. It was not merely arranged for string quintet but effectively re-composed and there are many differences - including that of length - between the two works.

The crown of his string quintets is, I think, the glorious Opus 29, which in some ways is superior to any of the Opus 18 quartets and should be regarded as a middle-period work.

I have both of these (op. 4 & 104) on one CD; I believe performed by the Suk Quartet + a violist.

I am a big fan of op. 29. I would consider it in line with 0p. 18, although not ahead of them.

I am currently listening to a set of Mozart's string quintets. My favorite set is one of live recordings made by the Guarneri Quartet with various guest violists.

This is a great topic, Michael!

[Michael]

I have both of these (op. 4 & 104) on one CD; I believe performed by the Suk Quartet + a violist.

I am a big fan of op. 29. I would consider it in line with 0p. 18, although not ahead of them.

I am currently listening to a set of Mozart's string quintets. My favorite set is one of live recordings made by the Guarneri Quartet with various guest violists.

This is a great topic, Michael!

Thank Aeolian for the topic! I also have the Suk recording of Opus 104 - a work which is rather hard to find on CD.
I still think Opus 29 is ahead of the Opus 18 quartets - except for No. 1 in F major.

[Chris]

I also have the Suk Quartet disc - it seems to be a favorite for those of us who want to collect everything!

[Michael]

If you ever come across a novel by Vikram Seth called "An Equal Music" (about the goings-on among the members of a string quartet) you'll find that the Suk recording of Beethoven's Opus 104 is an important part of the story.

In the novel, one of the characters finds a rare vinyl copy of this Suk recording and is flabbergasted to find that an arrangement of the C minor trio was made for string quintet, even though I don't think it is made clear that it's not really arranged by Beethoven. The work was issued on the Supraphon label from which I bought a lot of Beethoven back in my vinyl days.

I read the novel about 15 years ago and very shortly after it was published, the Suk recording became available on CD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Equal_Music

[Chris]

Very interesting, Michael!