Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 1


Listen Later

In 1806, the 36 year old Beethoven received a commission from the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky. Razumovsky wanted a set of string quartets for what would soon be his house string quartet which included some of the finest players Vienna had to offer. As part of his commission, Razumovsky asked Beethoven to include a Russian theme in each one of the quartets. Beethoven obliged him in 2 of the quartets, and the Razumovsky quartets, Op. 59 1, 2, and 3, were born. 1806 was near the height of Beethoven’s astonishing so called Middle Period, where the scale of his music drastically expanded from his earlier works and he began writing in a so called heroic style, with much more brash and adventurous music. This all started in 1803 with his Eroica Symphony, but Beethoven did not limit his adventures and his expanding palate to his symphonies. Everything with Beethoven’s music was expanding, including his string quartets. 

These middle quartets form part of the core of most string quartets repertoires. They are astonishing works in every regard, where Beethoven starts pushing limits we didn’t even, or maybe he didn’t even, know he had. From the expansive 59, 1, to the intensely felt and taut 59, 2, to the often fun loving 59, 3, Beethoven explores every facet of string quartet playing and brings that heroic and passionate new style to the genre of the string quartet. For today, we’re going to go through Op. 59, 1, a remarkably expansive and brilliant piece that explores every facet of string quartet playing, pushing quartets to their technical and emotional limits in ways that were absolutely shocking at the time and still unbelievably challenging today. If you come to this show for symphonies, that’s great, but for me and many other musicians, Beethoven’s string quartets are the greatest collection of pieces by any composer in any genre. I hope that today’s exploration will help convince you of that! Join us!

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music PodcastBy Joshua Weilerstein

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

2,055 ratings


More shows like Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,420 Listeners

Piano Puzzler by American Public Media

Piano Puzzler

521 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

289 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,164 Listeners

The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud

The History of English Podcast

6,381 Listeners

Song Exploder by Hrishikesh Hirway

Song Exploder

5,948 Listeners

The TLS Podcast by The TLS

The TLS Podcast

180 Listeners

Switched on Pop by Vulture

Switched on Pop

2,638 Listeners

Gramophone Classical Music Podcast by Gramophone

Gramophone Classical Music Podcast

61 Listeners

The History of Literature by Jacke Wilson / The Podglomerate

The History of Literature

1,101 Listeners

Music Student 101 by Jeremy Burns, Matthew Scott Phillips

Music Student 101

243 Listeners

You'll Hear It by Peter Martin & Adam Maness

You'll Hear It

517 Listeners

Classical Breakdown by WETA Classical

Classical Breakdown

199 Listeners

The Economics of Everyday Things by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett

The Economics of Everyday Things

1,610 Listeners

Past Present Future by David Runciman

Past Present Future

300 Listeners