I had long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven’s late string quartets. These are pieces that professional quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with. They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of. 5 quartets, Opus 127, Opus 130, Opus 131, Opus 132, and Opus 135, all written near or at the end of Beethoven’s life, arguably representing the pinnacle of everything Beethoven achieved. They explore not only every conceivable emotion, but they dig down into the core of those emotions, defiantly refusing to skim the surface and daring to ask and then answer the fundamental questions of life and death. Everyone has a favorite Late Beethoven Quartet, but mine has always been Opus 132, and so this week I’m taking the opportunity to take the leap into Late Beethoven. We’ll discuss Beethoven’s situation as he recovered from a life-threatening illness which he was sure was going to be his end, the unusual 5 movement structure of the piece, and this week, the first two movements of the quartet, the first of which, to me, defines everything that Sonata Form can do to express emotion and a narrative in a piece of absolute music. Join us!
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons
Chopin Etudes (and Godowsky!)
Schubert Cello Quintet
The Music of Film Composers
Janacek Sinfonietta
The Degenerates: Music Suppressed By The Nazis
David Krauss, Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Beethoven Op. 18 String Quartets, Part 2
Beethoven Op. 18 String Quartets, Part 1
Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1
10 Pieces You've (Probably) Never Heard, But Need to Listen To!
Ives, "Three Places in New England"
Louise Farrenc Symphony No. 3
Saint-Saens, The Carnival Of The Animals
Brahms Symphony No. 4
Mozart, The Music, The Myth, The Legend, w/ Jan Swafford
The Life and Music of George Gershwin
Haydn Symphony No. 94, "Surprise"
Derrick Skye: "Prisms, Cycles, and Leaps" w/ Derrick Skye
The Music of Olivier Messiaen
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