Masterclass: Beethoven String Quartet No 16 in F Major, Op 135, first movement

Cuarteto Casals cr Molina Visuals 1

Casals Quartet violist Jonathan Brown scrutinises this movement and explains why this piece is less abstract and unruly than many musicians first assume

Explore more Masterclasses  like this in The Strad Playing Hub

Read more premium content for subscribers here

This is the last quartet that Beethoven wrote and it occupies an interesting place in his body of work. He wrote it after he had finished his monumental series of quartets opp.130, 131 and 132; with the Grosse Fuge op.133, he had in many ways reached the limits of what it was possible to do with the string quartet. In the chamber music repertoire, no one tried anything as daring as opp.131 or 133 until Webern, Schoenberg, Berg and Bartók, 100 years later.

At this point in his life I can imagine Beethoven thinking, ‘Where do I go from here?’ so it is fascinating that for op.135 he returns to his Haydnesque roots and combines these with the style he had developed for the late quartets, enriching a Classical framework with a complicated harmonic language. Each Beethoven quartet is challenging in its own way, and in some senses op.135 combines the difficulties of the delicate, transparent op.18s with the thorny, contrapuntal harmonic vocabulary of the other late quartets. To me, it has one of the most captivating beginnings of them all, because it’s so ambiguous: it leaves so many possibilities open, and yet so clearly defines many of the thematic elements that will run through the entire piece.

Click here to view the sheet music for this work in our digital edition

Already subscribed? Please sign in

Subscribe to continue reading…

We’re delighted that you are enjoying our website. For a limited period, you can try an online subscription to The Strad completely free of charge.

  • Free 7-day trial

    Not sure about subscribing? Sign up now to read this article in full and you’ll also receive unlimited access to premium online content, including the digital edition and online archive for 7 days.

    No strings attached – we won’t ask for your card details

  • Subscribe 

    No more paywalls. To enjoy the best in-depth features and analysis from The Strad’s latest and past issues, upgrade to a subscription now. You’ll also enjoy regular issues and special supplements* and access to an online archive of issues back to 2010.

 

* Issues and supplements are available as both print and digital editions. Online subscribers will only receive access to the digital versions.