Full Description
"We do not understand music--it understands us." This aphorism by Theodor W. Adorno expresses the quandary and the fascination many listeners have felt in approaching Beethoven's late quartets. No group of compositions occupies a more central position in chamber music, yet the meaning of these works continues to stimulate debate. William Kinderman's The String Quartets of Beethoven stands as the most detailed and comprehensive exploration of the subject. It collects new work by leading international scholars who draw on a variety of historical sources and analytical approaches to offer fresh insights into the aesthetics of the quartets, probing expressive and structural features that have hitherto received little attention. This volume also includes an appendix with updated information on the chronology and sources of the quartets and a detailed bibliography.
Contents
Contents Introduction William Kinderman 1. Transformational Processes in Beethoven's Op. 18 Quartets William Kinderman 2. Metrical Dissonance and Metrical Revision in Beethoven's String Quartets Harald Krebs 3. Peak Experience: High Register and Structure in the "Razumovsky" Quartets, Op. 59 Malcolm Miller 4. Beethoven's "Harp" Quartet: The Sketches in Context Lewis Lockwood 5. "Haydn's Geist aus Beethovens Händen"? Fantasy and Farewell in the Quartet in E, Op. 74 Nicholas Marston 6. Aspects of the Genesis of Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 Seow-Chin Ong 7. "so träumte mir, ich reiste [. . .] nach Indien": Temporality and Mythology in Op. 127/I Birgit Lodes 8. Plenitude as Fulfillment: The Third Movement of Beethoven's String Quartet in B, Op. 130 Robert Hatten 9. The Genesis of the Countersubjects for the Grosse Fuge William Caplin 10. Opus 131 and the Uncanny Joseph Kerman 11. Beethoven's Last Quartets: Threshold to a Fourth Creative Period? William Kinderman Appendix: Chronology and Sources of the String Quartets Selected Bibliography Index
