‘Only now have I learnt how to write quartets properly.’ So wrote Beethoven in 1801, having just finished his first set of string quartets at the surprisingly advanced age of 30: the competition of Haydn and Mozart must have been intimidating for the young composer. But these six Quartets op.18, which cost him great effort and extensive revision, already display much boldness and originality, from the dramatic echoes of Romeo and Juliet in no.1 to the astonishing programmatic finale of no.6, ‘La Malinconia’.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN [1770-1827] String Quartet no.3 in D major / Ré majeur / D-Dur · I. Allegro (7'26) · II. Andante con moto (7'05) · III. Allegro (2'38) · IV. Presto (6'22) String Quartet no.1 in F major / Fa majeur / F-Dur · I. Allegro con brio (8'47) · II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato (8'39) · III. Scherzo. Allegro molto - Trio (3'20) · IV. Allegro (6'21) String Quartet no.2 in G major / Sol majeur / G-Dur · I. Allegro (7'28) · II. Adagio cantabile (6'02) · III. Scherzo (4'45) · IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto (5'17)
String Quartet no.4 in C minor / ut mineur / c-Moll · I. Allegro ma non tanto (8'18) · II. Andante scherzoso quasi Allegretto (7'21) · III. Menuetto. Allegro - Trio (3'12) · IV. Allegretto (4'14) String Quartet no.5 in A major / La majeur / A-Dur · I. Allegro (9'29) · II. Menuetto - Trio (4'34) · III. Andante cantabile (9'00) · IV. Allegro (6'13) String Quartet no.6 in B flat major / Si bémol majeur / B-Dur · I. Allegro con brio (8'22) · II. Adagio ma non troppo (6'29) · III. Scherzo (3'26) · IV. La Malinconia - Allegretto quasi Allegro (7'52)
