String Quartets Op. 59, 74, 95

(ed. Paul Mies)

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 “Quartet serioso”. All five quartets are mature masterworks which demand high interpretative and technical mastery.

Publisher:    G. Henle Verlag

Item Number:    HL 51489268

Series:    Henle Study Scores

Voicing:    Study Score

Pages:    160

Format:    Study Score