Attention String quartet players: the long wait is over! Henle launches its series of late Beethoven quartets with Op. 131 in c sharp minor and Op. 132 in a minor using the definitive urtext from theBeethoven Gesamtausgabe. It need hardly be added that great care was taken to find sensible page turns. The quartets will also appear simultaneously in miniature scores with exactly the same text and commentary. Theeditor Emil Platen has given each volume detailed critical comments consisting of a preface explanatory footnotes and an impressive section of editorial remarks. All of Beethoven‘s late String quartets are scheduledfor subsequent publication in the Gesamtausgabe. Franz Beyer the authority on String quartets with regard to this new issue: 'The most significant edition over the last twenty years worldwide!'

Attention String quartet players: the long wait is over! Henle launches its series of late Beethoven quartets with Op. 131 in c sharp minor and Op. 132 in a minor using the definitive urtext from theBeethoven Gesamtausgabe. It need hardly be added that great care was taken to find sensible page turns. The quartets will also appear simultaneously in miniature scores with exactly the same text and commentary. Theeditor Emil Platen has given each volume detailed critical comments consisting of a preface explanatory footnotes and an impressive section of editorial remarks. All of Beethoven‘s late String quartets are scheduledfor subsequent publication in the Gesamtausgabe. Franz Beyer the authority on String quartets with regard to this new issue: 'The most significant edition over the last twenty years worldwide!'

Beethoven se tourna relativement tardivement vers le quatuor à cordes. Lorsque le prince Lobkowitz lui passa commande des quatuors op. 18 il avait déjà 28 ans 30 ans lorsqu?il les termina. Ce sont donc des ?uvres de la maturité qui se différencient nettement des quatuors de Mozart notamment de par leurs exigences techniques tout en s?en rapprochant sur le plan musical. Le quatuor en La majeur K. 464 a servi très manifestement de modèle pour l?op. 18 no 5. Mais les six quatuors op. 18 de Beethoven sont des ?uvres totalement autonomes et constituent l?une des contributions les plus importantes à ce genre. Les copies des quatuors réalisées à la demande de Beethoven afin de lestransmettre au prince Lobkowitz leur commanditaire ont été à nouveau consultables dans les années 1980. Elles constituent un stade antérieur à la version finale de la première édition et comportent des indications de nuances et d?articulation plus riches ce qui les rend intéressantes notamment du point de vue de la pratique. Comme les manuscrits des six quatuors op. 18 n?ont pas été con-servés ces copies revêtent évidemment une signification particulière. Elles ont pu être prises en compte pour la première fois dans le cadre de la présente édition Urtext proposée par les éditions Henle.

Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. Beethoven completed his String Quartet Op.135 at Wasserdorf Castle in Gneixenhof, where he sought to recuperate with his nephew Karl after the latter?s failed suicide attempt in summer 1826. It stands out among his late quartets owing to the often cheerful, almost pastoral character of its four movements. Since Beethoven?s death it has often been interpreted as an attempt to take wise and positive stock of the mishaps that had befallen him in the preceding years regarding his life situation, family and health. This interpretation is strongly suggested by the final movement, ?Der schwer gefasste Entschluss? (The Difficult Decision), with its motto ?Must it be' It must be! It must be!? The editing of this quartet proved especially complex, for the authentic sources were reworked at various stages by the composer. By judiciously assessing them, editor Jonathan Del Mar has managed to clarify many anomalies found in previous editions. - Beethoven?s final string quartet with many new readings - Introduction by Misha Donat (Eng/Ger), editor?s foreword by Jonathan Del Mar (Eng/Ger) and a scrupulous, separately published Critical Commentary (Eng) / Date parution : 2022-07-30/ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes

Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. Many anecdotes surround String Quartet op. 131: Beethoven is said to have considered it to be his finest quartet and of his late period works, the one dearest to his heart. It is also believed that the composer invested so much of himself in it: his ailing health, the social isolation brought about by his deafness and the suicide attempt of his nephew Karl. In addition it was reported that Franz Schubert asked to hear this piece once more on his deathbed. Even if these anecdotes are not all true, they reveal what generations of musicians felt they heard in this quartet: Beethoven’s most personal musical idiom and a vulnerable message from the final period of his life. This new edition by Jonathan Del Mar represents a thorough revision of this highly complex work. Meticulously incorporated are Beethoven’s pencil markings that were previously almost completely ignored./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes