String Quartets Opp. 18, 59, 74, 95, 127,130, 131, 132, 133,135

Ludwig van Beethoven inherited the string-quartet tradition from his predecessors and shaped it into something unsurpassed in virtuosity, invention, and expressiveness. If Haydn is called the ‘father’ of the String Quartet, and Mozart took the form to new heights, then Beethoven characteristically took hold of it and completely transformed it. The five Late Quartets, written in the final years of his life, transcend anything he or anyone else had ever composed. Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets and they reveal his evolution as a composer. Listening to the notes we see deep into the soul of this difficult, irascible man by now profoundly deaf. He has bared himself, exposed his emotions to us in a more profound way than words could ever express. These quartets are widely regarded as the supreme form of chamber music.
 
He composed the String Quartets in three fairly distinct blocks: Nos. 1 - 6 when he was around 27-30 years of age, Nos. 7 - 11 when he was 35-40, and Nos. 12 - 16 in the final three years of his life.

Early Period (1798–1800): Op. 18
The Early Quartets was a huge achievement. Beethoven was not so impressed by them, at least not initially. He sent the first of the set to a friend, and then wrote to him: “Be sure not to pass on your quartet to anyone else, because I have substantially altered it. For only now have I learned to write quartets properly – as you will surely see when you receive them.”

It is certain that he went on to revise fully at least one, possibly two or more of the set. The completed versions are stunning, displaying a whole panoply of emotions. Do not make the mistake of considering these Early Quartets to be ‘lightweight’ Beethoven. There are light moments – the whole of No.3 (in fact the first to be composed) is lighter than the other five – but listen to the fourth movement of No.6. Beethoven named it ‘La Malinconia’ [Melancholy]. We are in a dark world, with a dramatic and highly unorthodox dialogue between anguish and joy.
 
Middle Period (1806–1814): Opp. 59, 74, 95
Forming the bulk of the Middle Quartets are the three Razumovskys, so called because they were commissioned by the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky (later Prince), himself an accomplished musician who played second violin in his own quartet. For his benefit Beethoven includes Russian themes in the first two of the set.

The first movement of No. 1 begins with a wonderfully lively and memorable melody, and the second movement begins with a single note repeated so often on the cello that cellists of the day thought Beethoven was playing a joke on them and refused to play it! The respected musical journal of the time, Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, got it spectacularly wrong when it wrote: “The Razumovskys are long and difficult … profound and excellently wrought but not easily intelligible – except perhaps for the third, whose originality, melody and harmonic power will surely win over every educated music lover.” The third, from the very first bar of the first movement, is without doubt the least easily accessible.

The other two of the Middle Quartets are nicknamed, respectively, the Harp and the Serioso, the first because of the plucked strings in the first movement, the second because Beethoven himself named it thus on the manuscript. The Harp is the lighter of the two, but no less characteristic of Beethoven. Its final movement is a theme and variations, a form much loved by Beethoven and one he usually reserved for the piano. The Serioso is indeed that, serious, a masterpiece in compression from the first bar onwards, and certainly a foretaste of what is to come in the final set of Quartets.
 
Late Period (1824–1827): Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135
Aware that his life was running out, his deafness total, and at odds with his nephew, drained physically and emotionally, his health alternating between bad and worse … Beethoven produced five masterpieces. They have no names, they are simply Opp. 127, 132, 130, 131, 135 (in order of composition). Depth of expression, grandeur of proportion, and technical complexity make Beethoven’s late quartets the revolutionary pinnacle of the form. In sheer scale, length, and complexity they stand alone. Countless books have been written about these Quartets. 
 
The extraordinary third movement of Op.132, Beethoven wrote at the top of the manuscript page: Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart (Sacred Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode), was the outcome of a near death experience. In April 1825 he fell seriously ill with an abdominal complaint. The doctor who told him he was seriously ill and risked inflammation of the bowels which could prove fatal. He put him on a strict diet, banning all wine, coffee, spirits, and spices of any kind. Beethoven went down to Baden when the weather warmed up, but wrote to the doctor: “I spit up rather a lot of blood, apparently only from the windpipe…. There is no doubt that my stomach has become terribly weak.” He recovered. 
 
The slow movement of Op.130, the Cavatina is utterly beautiful, even if you have no idea what is happening in Beethoven’s life. Over a gently pulsating rhythm from the three lower strings, the first violin sobs. In the fragmented notes there is anguish and despair. What could have driven Beethoven to this? It was his relationship with his nephew Karl. The source of so much heartbreak, and again of his own doing. While recovering in Baden and having completed Op.132, Beethoven began work immediately on the next, Op.130. Karl was supposed to come and see his uncle on Sundays, but has clearly not done so. Beethoven is riven with self-pity. An ageing and ailing man trying to control every aspect of his 19 year old nephew’s life, and striving to take the place of the young man’s father. Yet amidst it all, he produces a great work of art, the Op.130 String Quartet. Small wonder that he wrote of the Cavatina that it had affected him more than anything he had ever written and he had shed tears writing it.
 
Beethoven flippantly said to his publisher that this quartet was “patched together from odd bits and pieces here and there.” The String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 was his favourite quartet and an absolute game changer. Tossing convention aside by casting the work in seven continuous sections rather than the traditional four, Beethoven mines vast emotional gold from the introspective opening—the “saddest thing ever said in notes,” according to Wagner—to the tempestuous finale. Along the way are the fourth movement’s epic variations, a giddy scherzo, and a heart-wrenching Adagio you might recognize from an episode of the World War II series Band of Brothers. This quartet was played for Schubert on his deathbed, prompting him to say, “After this, what is left for us to compose?”
 
The original final movement of op.130 was the Grosse Fuge, a massive movement that is clearly too massive and unwieldy to sit at the end of the preceding five. Beethoven published it separately, and it remains a separate piece to this day, often performed by a string orchestra. The Grosse Fuge is 21st century music. It is way ahead of its time. It exhausts the performers mentally and physically, and the listener too. 
 
Beethoven was arguably the most critical figure in creating the string quartet movement from the classical era to the romantic era. His string quartets are easily the most intimate of his works. That’s because they involve only four voices (two violins, viola and cello), each with its own personality. For the listener, Beethoven’s string quartets are a keyhole to his genius during some of his most vulnerable times. He took the string quartet to the next level, a level, perhaps, too high for many people of his time. While his predecessors like Mozart and Haydn wrote incredible string quartets as well, Beethoven had something new and exciting to offer in his string quartets. He added a new depth, variation, and complexity. Beethoven’s string quartets are often regarded as “characteristically unique.”
 
Here are four Sets:
Beethoven String Quartets Nos. 1 – 16. Takacs Quartets. Release Date: 24 Mar 2017. Label: Decca. Catalogue No: 4831607. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 48 kHz, 24 bit). 
Awards:
Grammy Awards, 45th Awards (2002), Best Chamber Music Recording.
Gramophone Magazine, June 2017, Editor’s Choice.
 
Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets. Quatuor Ebene. Label: Erato. Release Date: 15 May 2020. Catalogue No: 9029533981. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 96 kHz, 24 bit).
Award:
Opus Klassik, 2021, Winner – Chamber Music.
 
Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets. Quartetto Italiano. Release Date: 11 Nov 1996. Label: Philips. Catalogue No: 4540622. FLAC (CD Quality, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit).
Award:
Gramophone Magazine, 100 Greatest Recordings.
 
Beethoven: String Quartets (7 Volumes). Cuarteto Casals. Release Dates: 15 Jun 2018  - 10 Apr 2020. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Catalogue Nos: HMM90240305-1, 90240305-2, 90240305-3, 90240002b, 90240002c,  90240002d,  90240608. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 96kHz, 24 bit).

References:
(2025). Beethoven’s String Quartets: A Short Guide. Carnegie Hall. USA: Authors.
 
Suchet, J. (2025). Beethoven’s String Quartets: John Suchet’s guide to the music. Classic FM. https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/guides/beethovens-music-string-quartets/