Beethoven/Mitropoulos - String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 (1826)

Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the classical and romantic eras in classical music, he remains one of the most recognized and influential musicians of this period and is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time.

Please support my channel:
https://ko-fi.com/bartjebartmans

String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (1826)
Dedication: Baron von Stutterheim
Arranged for String Orchestra by Dmitri Mitropoulos

1. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo (C♯ minor) (0:00)
2. Allegro molto vivace (D major) (8:45)
3. Allegro moderato (recitative) (C♯ minor) (12:00)
4. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile (A major) (12:54)
5. Presto (E major) (30:09)
6. Adagio quasi un poco andante (G♯ minor) (36:12)
7. Allegro (C♯ minor) (38:56)

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Live Recording 1977-09-14
Konzerthaus, Vienna

The String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131, was completed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1826. It is the last composed of a trio of string quartets, written in the order Opp. 132, 130 (with the Große Fuge ending), 131.

It was Beethoven's favorite of the late quartets: he is quoted as remarking to a friend that he would find "a new manner of part-writing and, thank God, less lack of imagination than before". It is said that upon listening to a performance of this quartet Schubert remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?" Schumann said that this quartet and Op. 127 had a "grandeur ... which no words can express. They seem to me to stand ... on the extreme boundary of all that has hitherto been attained by human art and imagination."

This work is dedicated to Baron Joseph von Stutterheim as a gesture of gratitude for taking Beethoven's nephew Karl into the army after a suicide attempt. Beethoven died before the work's publication by Schott Music and before its first performance, the date of which is uncertain.

The exact date of Mitropoulos' arrangements is not known. A date range of 1940's-1970's has been mentioned.