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!
Debussy La Mer
Mozart Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter"
Schumann Symphony No. 2
Brahms Symphony No. 2
How to Understand(and Enjoy!) Atonal Music, Part 2: The Wars of the 1950s
How to Listen to (and Enjoy!) Atonal Music, Part 1
The Degenerates: Music Suppressed by the Nazis
Sibelius Symphony No. 2
Dvorak Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"
Havergal Brian, "Gothic Symphony"
Bruckner Symphony No. 7
A Conversation with Gabriela Lena Frank, Composer
Shostakovich Symphony #13: "Babi Yar"
The Story of "Blind" Tom Wiggins, w/ Deirdre O'Connell
Bach Chaconne for Solo Violin
Wynton Marsalis and the "Blues Symphony"
Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Part 2
Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Part 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 8
Beethoven Symphony No. 7
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