Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 135

Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 135

There is nothing like hearing a Late Beethoven String Quartet for the first time. Beethoven's late string quartets, Op. 127, Op. 130, Op. 131, Op. 132, and Op. 135, are among the 5 greatest pieces of music ever written for any combination of instruments. They reach a kind of cosmic understanding of the world that is unparalleled, and they remain the Mount Everest of every string quartet's repertoire. The quartet we're going to be talking about today, Op. 135, is slightly the outlier from the set, in that it is less expansive, slightly less complex, and as Misha Amory from the Brentano String Quartet says, "it is the work of a composer who seems to have suddenly attained some new, simple truth after miles of struggle." Op. 135 is Beethoven's last completed work, and as this year begins, I thought I would check off number 2 of 5 Late Beethoven Quartets with this work that seems to exist on another plane of existence entirely. It is a piece of great depth and sadness, and also of ecstasy and lightness. It is a piece of great seriousness that is also full of a sense of humor that is rare in Beethoven. It contains one of the greatest slow movements ever written, a movement that would inspire one of Mahler's greatest symphonic movements, and it also features a zany and wild scherzo movement that could have been written two weeks ago. In short, Beethoven's Op. 135 has it all. Join us as we go through this masterpiece together!

Jaksot(282)

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 3

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 3

At the end of 1893, Mahler could not find a way to end his 2nd Symphony. But the funeral of Hans Von Bulow, a conductor who Mahler worshipped even though Von Bulow hated Mahler's music, gave Mahler wh...

14 Touko 202055min

Classical Music During the Pandemic

Classical Music During the Pandemic

Today I was thrilled to have with me Matthew Szymanski of the Phoenix Orchestra and Aram Demirjian of the Knoxville Symphony on the show to talk about what classical music as a whole is going to need ...

11 Touko 202044min

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 2

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 2

Today we explore the two middle movements of Mahler's 2nd symphony. These movements were meant as intermezzi, and are both memories in their own way. The first is a nostalgic, wistful, and extraordina...

7 Touko 202036min

Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

We're taking a brief detour from Mahler 2 today to discuss Debussy's legendary Afternoon of a Faun, a piece written in the same year as Mahler's 2nd symphony. It's easy to forget how revolutionary thi...

4 Touko 202035min

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 1

Mahler Symphony No. 2, Part 1

"What next? What is life and what is death? Will we live on eternally? Is it all an empty dream or do our life and death have a meaning? We must answer this question, if we are to go on living." These...

30 Huhti 202038min

A Conversation with Jan Swafford, Composer and Author

A Conversation with Jan Swafford, Composer and Author

If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall for a slightly nerdy conversation between a conductor and a composer who also happens to be a great writer and thinker about classical music, this week's sho...

27 Huhti 202056min

Opus 1s: The First Works of Great Composers, Part 2

Opus 1s: The First Works of Great Composers, Part 2

Every great composer has an origin story. Every composer started somewhere. I'm fascinated with a composers first works because they tell us so much about who they are going to become. In some cases, ...

23 Huhti 202042min

What is Historical Performance?  w/Augusta McKay Lodge

What is Historical Performance? w/Augusta McKay Lodge

Have you ever wondered what the real differences are between modern and historical performance? Why do historical performances sound so different from modern ones? This week, we take a deep dive into ...

20 Huhti 202041min

Suosittua kategoriassa Viihde

anni-jaajo
tuplakaak
grekovit
hei-baby-3
terveisia-perheesta
the-harlin-show
dear-shirly
antin-palautepalvelu
bella-table
antin-elokuvakerho
nonsensepodi
dear-shirly-ja-arttu
verhon-takaa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
get-jassud
hollywood-love-stories-2
tahtitehdas
tervo-halme
everypodi
terkuin-jenna