Beethoven's contemporaries, including his faithful Schuppanzigh Quartet, were initially displeased with the first two works of Op. 59.
Composition History
The exuberant 'Rasumovsky' Quartets of Op. 59 were dedicated to Count Andreas Rasumovsky, Russian ambassador to Vienna, and two of them include Russian folk tunes at his request.
Compositional Technique
The Op. 59 Quartets, dedicated to Count Andreas Rasumovsky, Russian ambassador to Vienna, achieved a symphonic breadth and richness of texture beyond 18th-century quartet tradition.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's 'middle' period of string quartet composition began with the pioneering trio of Quartets Op. 59, dating from 1805-6.
Composition History
Beethoven dedicated Quartet Op. 74, subtitled 'The Harp,' to Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz, one of his most supportive Viennese patrons, who also received the dedication for his earlier Op. 18 Quartets.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's Quartet Op. 95, which he titled 'Quartetto serioso,' foreshadows his Late Quartets with its unconventional sonata form, abbreviated development, and audacious harmonic treatment.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven confessed that around the time of composing the Op. 59 Quartets, 'the tones whirl like the wind, and often there is a like whirl in my soul.'
