“Beethoven in close-up” – part 4

After the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh returned to Vienna in 1823 following a seven-year stay in Russia, he jokingly wrote to Beethoven that he would visit him and they would “compose a new quartet together”. Whether Schuppanzigh actually contributed anything to the composition is questionable. However, it is certain that his return resulted in Beethoven turning to the string quartet genre again after a hiatus of over twelve years. The Russian Beethoven admirer Prince Galitzin had asked him for three quartets as early as November 1822 – the composer now dedicated himself to this request.

Beethoven’s renewed engagement with the chamber music genre developed a special momentum after the first Galitzin Quartet, op. 127 of 1824, which led to the increasing external character of the works: while opus 127 still had the traditional four movements, the quartet op. 132 is in five, op. 130 in six, and op. 131 in seven movements – listed here in the order in which they were written. Beethoven is said to have told Karl Holz, the second violinist of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, of the pieces that each is “its own kind! Art demands of us that we do not stand still. You will notice a new manner of part-writing and, thank God, less lack of imagination than before”.

Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker

Solène Kermarrec