String Quartet No. 16 (Beethoven)

String Quartet No. 16
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Caricature of Beethoven by J. P. Lyser (1825)
Key F major
Opus Op. 135
Form String quartet
Composed October 1826
Dedication Johann Wolfmayer
Duration About 25 minutes
Movements Four
Premiere
Date March 1828
Performers Schuppanzigh Quartet

The String Quartet No. 16 in F 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 op. 135 quartet was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.

The work is on a smaller scale than the other late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement 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!). The whole movement is headed "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß" ("The Difficult Decision").

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)

Notes

  1. ↑ Steinberg, Michael (1994). Robert Winter, Robert Martin, ed. The Beethoven Quartet Companion. University of California Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-520-08211-7.


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