Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 132 (Part 1)
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
Joshua Weilerstein
4.9 • 2.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 June 2019
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I've long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven's late string quartets. These are pieces that quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with. They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of. 5 quartets, Opus 127, Opus 130, Opus 131, Opus 132, and Opus 135 - all written near or at the end of Beethoven's life, these pieces represent the pinnacle of everything Beethoven achieved, yes, even far beyond his symphonies in this conductors opinion. They explore not only every conceivable emotion, but they dig down into the core of those emotions, defiantly refusing to skim the surface and daring to ask and THEN ANSWER the fundamental questions of life and death. Everyone has a favorite Late Beethoven Quartet, but mine has always been Opus 132, and so this week I'm taking the opportunity of getting a Patreon sponsor request from Maria for a piece of chamber music to take the leap myself into Late Beethoven. We'll discuss Beethoven's situation as he recovered from a life-threatening illness which he was sure was going to be his end, the unusual 5 movement structure of the piece, and this week, the first two movements of the quartet, the first of which, to me, defines everything that Sonata Form can do to express emotion and a narrative in a piece of absolute music.
Transcript
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| 0:16.8 | Hello and welcome to sticky notes to Classical Music Podcast. My name is Joshua Weilerstein. I'm a conductor and I'm the artistic director of the Lozan Chamber Orchestra in Lozan Switzerland. This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting ready to dive into this amazing world of incredible music. musical music |
| 0:24.0 | of the world of incredible music. |
| 0:25.0 | Before we get started, I want to thank all of my Patreon sponsors |
| 0:28.0 | for making season five possible. |
| 0:30.0 | If you'd like to support the show, |
| 0:31.0 | please hit over to Patreon.com slash Sticky Notes Podcast. |
| 0:35.0 | And if you are a fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:40.0 | Every rating or review helps more people find the show and it is greatly appreciated. |
| 0:44.8 | And a special thank you today to Marta for sponsoring this two-part episode on Beethoven's Quartet |
| 0:50.0 | opus 132. |
| 0:51.8 | And before we move on, just one more thing, I'm planning another Ask Me Anything episode to |
| 0:56.0 | air on June 21st. |
| 0:58.1 | I made a little mistake last week and said it will be on the 14th, so apologies for that. |
| 1:02.2 | But I did want to give you a few extra days to ask your questions |
| 1:04.8 | and also to split today's episode into two parts. Because of any piece deserves a two-part episode, |
| 1:10.3 | it's Opus 132. Now I have a few questions saved up already for the show but I would love to hear more from you about any questions you might have about classical music, about conducting, about things I'm doing or anything else. Hence, ask me anything. I'll give you until Sunday, June 16th to send in your questions, so get your questions |
| 1:26.8 | into Sticky Notes Podcast at gmail.com or my Facebook page at stickynotes podcast, |
| 1:31.7 | and we'll do an AMA together on June 21st, hopefully including some surprise |
| 1:36.1 | guests. |
| 1:37.1 | Okay, thanks and on to part one of today's Patreon sponsored episode on Beethoven's string quartet, Opus 132. The I've long hesitated to do a show about any of Beethoven's Light String Quartets. |
| 2:11.6 | These are pieces that Quartets spend the better part of their careers |
| 2:14.2 | grappling with struggling with failing with and much more rarely |
... |
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