Recording identifier: Label: Catalogue number: Conductors: Producer: Engineer: Recording date: 2019-04-20 Performance timing: Ensemble: Leader: Recording location:

The String Quartet No. 12 in E♭ major, Op. 127, by Ludwig van Beethoven, was completed in 1825. It is the first of Beethoven's late quartets. Form The work is composed of four movements and a typical performance of the work takes around 36–38 minutes. Beethoven initially planned two additional movements: one between the first and second, and another between the third and fourth. Maestoso (2/4) – Allegro (3/4) in E♭ major Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile (12/8) – Andante con moto (common time) – Adagio molto espressivo (cut time) – Tempo I (12/8) in A♭ major Scherzando vivace (3/4) in E♭ major Allegro (cut time) in E♭ major In the first, Schott, edition of 1826, the finale had no initial tempo marking (other than Finale) (and the third movement's opening indication was "Scherzo: Vivace", not "Scherzando vivace"). Music The first movement is twice interrupted – just before the development of the sonata form begins, and when that section is almost but not quite over – by recurrences of the opening's maestoso music. The immense second movement is in the subdominant key of A♭ major. It consists of a set of six variations and a coda. The first variation is in 12 8 meter with darker harmonies and quick changes in dynamics. The second variation increases the tempo to andante con moto and adjusts the meter to 4/4. Here, the two violins engage in a dialogue over staccato accompaniment. The third variation shifts to E major, enharmonically the flat submediant, and the tempo shifts to a hymn-like adagio molto espressivo. The fourth variation returns to 12 8 and the key of A♭ by dropping a half-step from E to the dominant note (E♭). This variation has a codetta which transitions the key to D♭ major in preparation for the next variation. The fifth variation is sotto voce and has been called a "mysterious episode" and begins in D♭ major and transitions to the parallel C♯ minor. The recapitulatory sixth variation returns to 12 8, presents only half of the theme and connects directly to the coda. The penultimate variation recapitulates the theme after a contrasting section in the submediant, while the final variation restores the tonic and basic thematic material after an episode in the subdominant. Beethoven based this tonal progression on the finale of the Ninth Symphony (Op. 125) where the orchestral double fugue episode in B♭ is followed by the "grand" variation for full orchestra and choir in D major, followed by the "Seid umschlungen" episode in G major, which moves into the choral double fugue in the tonic D major. Op. 127: A♭ → E (lowered submediant) – penultimate variation → D♭ (subdominant) → final variation Op. 125: D → B♭ (lowered submediant) – penultimate variation → G (subdominant) → final variation The scherzo's trio is a Presto of a kind Beethoven did not use very often, though it is similar in sound and phrasing to some of his bagatelles from the contemporary Op. 126 set.

Recording identifier: Label: Catalogue number: Conductors: Producer: Engineer: Recording date: 2019-04-22 Performance timing: Ensemble: Leader: Recording location:

Recording identifier: Label: Catalogue number: Conductors: Producer: Engineer: Recording date: 2019-04-22 Performance timing: Ensemble: Leader: Recording location:

The String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, by Ludwig van Beethoven, was written in 1825, given its public premiere on November 6 of that year by the Schuppanzigh Quartet and was dedicated to Count Nikolai Galitzin, as were Opp. 127 and 130. The number traditionally assigned to it is based on the order of its publication; it is actually the thirteenth quartet in order of composition.

The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 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: Allegretto (F major) Vivace (F major) Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo (D♭ major) 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)