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String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)

1826 and final completed work by Beethoven

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String Quartet
No. 16
Late string quartetbyLudwig van Beethoven
Caricature of Beethoven by J. P. Lyser (1825)
Key	F major
Opus	135
Composed	October 1826
Dedication	Johann Wolfmayer
Duration	c. 22 min
Movements	Four
Premiere
Date	March 1828
Performers	Schuppanzigh Quartet

The String Quartet No. 16inF major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826^[1] and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was composed later. The work was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.

The Op. 135 quartet is the shortest of Beethoven's late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed『Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß』(The Difficult Decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript『Muß es sein?』(Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement,『Es muß sein!』(It must be!).

It is in four movements:

1. Allegretto (F major)
2. Vivace (F major)
3. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo (D♭ major)
4. "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß". Grave, ma non troppo tratto ("Muss es sein?") – Allegro ("Es muss sein!") – Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro (F minor – F major)

The autograph manuscript of the work is preserved in the Beethoven House.

The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes.

The work features in Czech author Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, where the character Tomas uses the phrases『Muß es sein?』and『Es muß sein!』to describe his approach to fate.^[2]

Notes[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Vernon, David (2023). Beethoven: The String Quartets. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press, 2023. ISBN 978-1739659929.

External links[edit]

• String Quartet in F major, Op. 135. Beethoven's autograph in the Beethoven House
• Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet
• String Quartet No. 16: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Performance by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseuminMP3 format

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