Beethoven’s late string quartets have been regarded with awe and wonder since they were written, with Op. 131 probably leading the pack. Beethoven was said to consider it his own favorite, and Wagner was extravagant in his description of the piece in his 1870 essay on the composer. Beethoven completed it in May 1826; He may have heard it in a private performance before he died, but it was apparently not played publically until 1835.
Beethoven’s long evolving experiments with directing the flow of an entire work towards its end find perhaps their fullest fruits in Op. 131, cast in seven sections played without pause. These seven sections, however, are basically the four conventional movements with a fugal introduction and two connecting interludes.
Here is the opening movement of the amazing string Quartet Opus 131 by Beethoven. It was yet another composition that revolutionized chamber music:
