Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 130 (1996)

As many classical music devotees know, Beethoven originally composed his String Quartet No. 13 with a finale we now know as a separate work, the Grosse Fuge. He replaced it at the urging of his publisher and others because they felt it a mismatch for the work's other five movements. To their apparently delicate ears the mighty fugue's profoundly epic character seemed an overwhelming culmination for an otherwise chipper, elegant work. Though he acceded to their wishes in composing a substitute rondo finale, Beethoven ... Read More

As many classical music devotees know, Beethoven originally composed his String Quartet No. 13 with a finale we now know as a separate work, the Grosse Fuge. He replaced it at the urging of his publisher and others because they felt it a mismatch for the work's other five movements. To their apparently delicate ears the mighty fugue's profoundly epic character seemed an overwhelming culmination for an otherwise chipper, elegant work. Though he acceded to their wishes in composing a substitute rondo finale, Beethoven probably never accepted their judgment and would almost certainly have preferred the fugue over the rondo in performances of his work.In this Nimbus recording, you get both finales. One can therefore program either version of the quartet or include both finales for a marathon seven-movement hearing. But this disc's major selling point isn't quantity--it's quality. The Brandis Quartet has been garnering favorable notices in their Beethoven quartet series thus far, and it's not difficult to... Read Less