Beethoven: The Late String Quartets

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the grander Beethoven's ambition, the better Tønnesen's arrangement...Opp 130, 131 and 132 fast-track us to the heart of the matter. — Gramophone Magazine, August 2014

Release Date: 3rd Feb 2014
Catalogue No: BIS1096
Label: BIS
Length: 3 hours 5 minutes

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Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major, Op. 127

Work length38:09

Album only

Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen

I. Maestoso - Allegro

Track length6:14

$1.00

$1.50

II. Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile

Track length18:09

Album only

III. Scherzando vivace

Track length6:38

$1.00

$1.50

IV. Finale. Allegro - Allegro comodo

Track length7:08

$1.50

$2.30

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Work length37:53

$8.05

$12.05

Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen

I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo

Track length6:37

$1.00

$1.50

II. Allegro molto vivace

Track length3:00

$1.00

$1.50

III. Allegro moderato - Adagio

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.50

IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile - Più mosso

Track length13:25

$2.05

$3.05

V. Presto

Track length5:17

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$1.50

VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante

Track length2:09

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VII. Allegro

Track length6:34

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Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130

Work length45:51

$8.10

$12.10

Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen

I. Adagio, ma non troppo - Allegro

Track length12:37

$2.05

$3.05

II. Presto

Track length2:10

$1.00

$1.50

III. Andante con moto, ma non troppo. Poco scherzoso

Track length6:14

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$1.50

IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai

Track length2:59

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$1.50

V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo

Track length6:55

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$1.50

VI. Große Fuge

Track length14:56

$2.05

$3.05

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132

Work length40:42

Album only

Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen

I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro

Track length9:38

$1.50

$2.30

II. Allegro ma non tanto

Track length6:34

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$1.50

III. Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenden an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart

Track length15:52

Album only

IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace - Più allegro -

Track length2:07

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$1.50

V. Allegro appassionato - Presto

Track length6:31

$1.00

$1.50

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135

Work length23:01

$4.00

$6.00

Camerata Nordica
Terje Tønnesen

I. Allegretto

Track length5:58

$1.00

$1.50

II. Vivace

Track length3:30

$1.00

$1.50

III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo

Track length6:40

$1.00

$1.50

IV. Der schwer gefasste Entschluss

Track length6:53

$1.00

$1.50

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Like few other works, Beethoven's late string quartets have gained an almost undisputed standing as the very apex of their genre. Not many of Beethoven's contemporaries would have accorded them this: the composer Louis Spohr called them 'indecipherable, uncorrected horrors' and the quartets were widely regarded as the monstrous products of a madness which at best could be excused by the composer’s deafness. One of the first to recognize them for the masterpieces that they are was Franz Schubert, who after having heard a performance of Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor is reported to have said 'After this, what is left for us to write?' Composers after Schubert have been as awestruck by this music, with Stravinsky famously describing the Große Fuge as 'an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever.' The feeling that Beethoven in these works was giving form to a universal music which transcends genre conventions have also inspired many to adapt various of the quartets for larger forces, including the conductors Dmitri Mitropoulos and Arturo Toscanini. On the present recordings, originally released by the Altara label in 2006, it is the Norwegian violinist Terje Tønnesen’s adaptations we hear, performed by himself and his Swedish string ensemble Camerata Nordica. Besides providing the greater dynamic spectrum that a larger ensemble can bring to the music, Tønnesen’s main aim has been to strengthen the contrasts between intimate passages and fuller textures by employing solo players in certain passages, as in a concerto grosso. He and Camerata Nordica has also reinstated the Große Fuge in its proper context: that amazing 15 minute monolith was originally intended as the finale of Op.130, but proved indigestible to contemporary audiences and critics – one of whom described it as ‘as incomprehensible as Chinese’ – and was replaced by an easy-going rondo following a request from Beethoven’s publisher.

Reviews

August 2014

the grander Beethoven's ambition, the better Tønnesen's arrangement...Opp 130, 131 and 132 fast-track us to the heart of the matter.

Beethoven: The Late String Quartets

3 CDs

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