Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 'Razumovsky'
Stephen Johnson explores Beethoven's Quartet in C, the third in the Opus 59 series, commissioned by the composer's friend Count Razumovsky.
Stephen Johnson explores his favourite Beethoven quartet, the Quartet in C, from Beethoven's Opus 59 series. They were commissioned in 1806 by Count Razumovsky, who was the Russian Ambassador to Vienna and a keen amateur violinist. The quartets clearly reveal Beethoven's intellectual strengths to be at their height, yet their conception and length mystified contemporaries when they were first heard. Given the admiration they would receive subsequently, Beethoven showed remarkable prescience when he said, "..they are not for you but for a later age!".
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Music Played
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quartet in C major K.465 (Dissonance) for strings
Performer: Belcea Quartet
- EMI Classics.
- 3 44455 2.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Quartet in C major Op.59`3 (Rasumovsky) for strings
Performer: Medici String Quartet
- Nimbus.
- NI 5225.
Credit
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Composer | Ludwig van Beethoven |
Broadcast
- Tue 4 Jun 2013 20:10±«Óãtv Radio 3
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