Quartet in C Minor is in four movements with a total duration of about 25 minutes. The opening Allegro is Dvorák-ish in its lyricism though there is a darker more brooding atmosphere towards the close. It is tempting to detect a hint of folk-song in the theme of the Andantino played by the Viola but that may be stretching hindsight too far. The movement has a wistful melancholy that carries over into the following Intermezzo a song-like episode containing some of the most virtuosic writing in the work. The last movement is a theme and six variations with a fugal ending. The theme is ballad-like with a suggestion of 18th-century elegance. Modality creeps into thesecond Adagio variation and there is rhythmic exhilaration in the succeeding Presto. What can be admired in this attractive quartet is its conciseness. This String Quartet was his first major composition of any kind.

String Quartet in C-sharp minor op. 131. 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.

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!'