Ludwig van Beethoven - Grand Fugue Op. 133

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770--1827)
Große Fuge (Grand Fugue), Op. 133 (1825) for string quartet

Quatuor Talich

The Große Fuge (or Grosse Fuge, also known in English as Grand Fugue), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. A massive double fugue, it originally served as the final movement of his Quartet No. 13 in B♭ major (Op. 130) but he replaced it with a new finale and published it separately in 1827 as Op. 133. It was composed in 1825, when Beethoven was completely deaf, and is considered one of his late quartets. It was first performed in 1826, as the finale of the Bb quartet, by the Schuppanzigh Quartet.
The Große Fuge is famous for its extreme technical demands and its unrelentingly introspective nature, even by the standards of his late period. It is the largest and most difficult of all of Beethoven's string quartet movements.
Most 19th century critics dismissed the work. Daniel Gregory Mason called it "repellent", a reviewer writing for Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1826 described the fugue as "incomprehensible, like Chinese" and "a confusion of Babel". However critical opinion of the work has risen steadily since the beginning of the 20th century. The work is now considered among Beethoven's greatest achievements. Igor Stravinsky said of it, "[it is] an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever." ~ Wikipedia

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Category:

Music

Tags:

• beethoven
• string
• quartet
• grand
• grosse
• fugue
• score

[filmguychris]

@TheMagicBolt A 'serenade' is light, airy piece. 'Serenade' comes from the Latin word 'serenus', meaning "peaceful, calm, serene". My point was that this quartet group has a light, airy sound (I used the word weak, which in reference to Op. 133, it is). I meant no offense against Mozart and his serenades. A serenade is fine for a serenade, and I love K 525 as much as anybody. But Op. 133 is not a serenade and should not be played as such. That is what I meant.

[TheMagicBolt]

@filmguychris what do you mean by a little Mozart serenade?

[TheDardanius]

@filmguychris i agree. i heard this piece before played by another string quartet. in this interpretation there's simply no "power" or "feeling" which beethoven probably intended.

[filmguychris]

I have heard literally dozens of recordings of this piece, and this Talich quartet is beyond awful. It is weak and emotionless. Like I said, look at the score. This piece is one of the most intense, dynamic and, savage pieces Beethoven ever wrote. Someone posted Talich playing op. 95 and they played the same way... wimpy, weak, lifeless, passionless... They must be the worst quartet in the world...

[longuemar]

@filmguychris Talich interpretation is, on the contrary, certainly one the best you can hear as far as musicality is concerned.

[filmguychris]

Absolutely terrible performance; one of the worst I ever heard. They play it weakly,as if it is a little Mozart serenade. The score is littered with forte and fortissimo marks and they ignore every one. There is no fire! This is one of my favorite pieces... what a shame. Listen to the Guarneri quartet's CD to hear how it should really sound...

[gvolts28]

Grazie per questo!

[Loge84]

Ab der 4. Minute hört es sich einfach unverkennbar nach dem Rondo aus dem 4. Satz der "Neunten" аn! Ähnliche Reminiszenzen wie bei der 32. Klaviersonate op.111, nur mit dem Unterschied, dass dort das Scherzomotiv des 2. Satzes der "Neunten" еxakt antizipiert wird. Genial!

[ThomasLigre]

ci voleva proprio! anche a me era venuta l'idea di fare il video ma mi hai anticipato! :)

[marioguidoscappucci]

In quel soggetto controtempo c'è tutto il pulsare del sangue della modernità urlante sulle tempie di Ludwig.