G. Henle Verlag

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Editor: Paul Mies
Preface: Ernst Herttrich
Format: Parts Set
Instrumentation: String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola, Cello)

The five string quartets in this volume are generally designated as Beethoven's "middle quartets", even though stylistically they do not all build a closed unit. More than three years lie between the inception of the three quartets op. 59 (1806) and the quartet op. 74 (1809/10). In the quartets op. 59, Beethoven sprinkled several Russian folksong themes - an homage to Prince Razumovsky, who had commissioned the works. This is why the pieces are often called the "Russian Quartets". The next quartet, op. 74 in E flat major, was also given a nickname: thanks to extended pizzicato passages in the first movement, it is frequently called the "Harp Quartet". The f minor Quartet op. 95, in turn, bears in the autograph title "Quartett serioso". All five quartets are mature masterworks which demand high interpretative and technical mastery.

Contents:

• String Quartet (Rasumowsky) F major op. 59,1
• String Quartet (Rasumowsky) e minor op. 59,2
• String Quartet (Rasumowsky) C major op. 59,3
• String Quartet (Harp Quartet) E flat major op. 74
• String Quartet f minor op. 95