Beethoven's "Razumovsky" quartets pushed the boundaries of chamber music, requiring each instrumentalist to be a full-fledged soloist and demanding virtuosity with double stops and unusually high registers.
Performer Biography
The Alcan Quartet, named after its financial supporter, the multinational aluminum company Alcan (now Rio Tinto Alcan), is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has performed over 1500 concerts internationally.
Composition History
The "Harp" Quartet, Opus 74, was composed after three patrons offered Beethoven a comfortable income to dedicate himself to his art, but its creation was interrupted by the French invasion of Vienna.
Composition History
The three Opus 59 quartets, known as the "Razumovsky" quartets, were dedicated to Count Andrey Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna and a music enthusiast.
Compositional Technique
In homage to his patron, Beethoven incorporated Russian folk themes, found in a 1790 collection by Ivan Pratsch, into his first two "Razumovsky" quartets.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's deafness, which had reached a point of no return, led to a severe inner crisis for the composer, as expressed in his 1802 "Heiligenstadt Testament."
Critical Reception
The Opus 59 quartets initially disturbed critics and audiences, who found them "long and difficult" and even called them "music of a crackpot," to which Beethoven responded they were "written for the future."
