Beethoven dedicated an early draft of his Opus 18 No. 1 quartet to his friend, the violinist Karl Amenda, but later revised it significantly.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven once told a critic bewildered by a 'Razumovsky' quartet that the music was 'not for you, but for a later age!'
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven famously screamed at the violinist Schuppanzigh, who complained a passage was unplayable, 'Do you think that I care for your damned fiddle when the spirit seizes me?'
Composer Biography
Between 1800 and 1806, Beethoven experienced significant personal turmoil, including his encroaching deafness, which led him to contemplate suicide as documented in the Heiligenstadt Testament.
Composition History
Beethoven spent over two years composing his six Opus 18 Quartets, preceded by an 'apprenticeship' writing string trios and arranging a piano sonata for string quartet.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven incorporated 'Thèmes Russes' (Russian themes) into parts of the first two 'Razumovsky' Quartets, Opus 59 No. 1 and No. 2, as an homage to their commissioner.
Composition History
The Opus 59 'Razumovsky' Quartets are named after Count Andreas Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Austria, who commissioned them.
