Photo: Josep Molina
LvB250 – String Quartets Part 5
Cuarteto Casals plays Beethoven's string quartets in f minor ”Serioso” and B flat major op 130 (original version with Grosse Fuge).
Ticket information
The concert will take place with an audience of maximum 50 people in the hall.
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Spanish string quartet Cuarteto Casals will perform all of Beethoven’s string quartets in 2020 – the big Beethoven year. The 16 quartets came in three phases throughout his lifetime – and each phase comprised a dizzying stride forward for the art of the quartet. The acclaimed Cuarteto Casals debuted at Konserthuset in 2007 and have returned several times, most recently in 2016.
The Quartet in F Minor, which is often called Serioso, is the shortest of Beethoven’s 16 quartets with a 20-minute run-time. But it is no less rich. The four movements are permeated with a concentrated, serious atmosphere conjured up by abrupt and sharply chiselled themes. The jubilant conclusion seems to be an ironic paradox that only reinforces the dark atmosphere of the quartet.
The mighty Quartet in B Major, Opus 130, is the most discussed of the late quartets. The six movements are also incredibly multifaceted and musically profound. Some critics have said the quartet consists of movements with no context, similar to a serenade, which could explain why the grand fugue could easily stand on its own as an independent composition. It is a double fugue of vast undertaking, known among quartet musicians for being extremely demanding. But instead, Beethoven continued the development from the preceding quartets, where he uses contrasts to connect the movements.
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The music
Approximate times -
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 11 in f minor "Serioso"20 min
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Intermission25 min
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Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major op 130, original version with Grosse fuge50 min
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Participants
- Casals Quartet