String Quartets Nos. 12 - 16 and Grosse Fuge, Opus 127, 130 - 135 (Beethoven)
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The following set is generally referred to as Beethoven's late string quartets, including the Grosse Fuge (which also exists in a piano transcription, opus 134):
- Opus 127: String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major (1825)
- Opus 130: String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major (1825)
- Opus 131: String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor (1826)
- Opus 132: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor (1825)
- Opus 133: Große Fuge in B flat major for string quartet (1826), originally the finale to op. 130
- Opus 134: Piano arrangement (4 hands) of Große Fuge (1826)
- Opus 135: String Quartet No. 16 in F major (1826)
Beethoven composed these quartets in the sequence 12, 15, 13, 14, 16, with quartets 15 and 13 being written simultaneously.
The first three of the quartets (numbers 12, 13, and 15) were commissioned in 1822 by Prince Nicholas Galitzin, who offered 50 ducats for each opus. Together, all five quartets comprise the last major, completed compositions by Beethoven, and are widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, though they are also notoriously difficult for audiences to digest. Adorno, in particular, thought highly of them, and Stravinsky is reputed to have believed the Grosse Fuge to be greatest piece of music ever written.
For Grosse Fuge: see also String Quartet No. 13, and P. D. Q. Bach, who composed a Grossest Fugue as a joking tribute.
| String Quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven |
|---|
| String quartets, Op. 18 | Op. 18 No. 1 | Op. 18 No. 2 | Op. 18 No. 3 | Op. 18 No. 4 | Op. 18 No. 5 | Op. 18 No. 6 |
| String quartets, Op. 59 ("Rasumovsky") | Op. 59 No. 1 | Op. 59 No. 2 | Op. 59 No. 3 |
| Middle period quartets | Op. 74 ("Harp") | Op. 95 ("Serioso") |
| Late quartets | Op. 127 | Op. 130 | Op. 131 | Op. 132 | Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 | Op. 135 |
| Arrangement by Beethoven of Op. 14 No. 1 |
