Beethoven’s two final major compositions are both string quartets: Op. 131 in c# and Op. 135 in F. These two quartets are full of contrast both with one another and within themselves.
The c-sharp minor work follows the multi-movement pattern established by the composer’s previous two quartets. It starts with a slow fugue marked molto espressivo, in a world much closer to the rapt contemplation of Op. 132’s Heiliger Dankgesang than the violence of the Grosse Fuge, and then proceeds through a total of six other movements – an Allegro molto vivace, a short recitative-like Allegro moderato, a set of variations marked Andante, an extremely fast Scherzo, a short Adagio and, finally, an an Allegro – all of which, Beethoven instructs, should be played without a break!
The F-major quartet has only four movements, and they follow the traditional pattern of Allegretto/ Scherzo / Slow movement/ Finale (an Allegro with a slow introduction). Unlike its immediate predecessors – all of which last somewhere around ¾ of an hour – this final work last only a Haydnesque twenty minutes.
Above the last movement is written:
… which translates as “The Difficult Decision – Must it be? – It must be!” – cryptic comments that have kept biographers and critics guessing from the nineteenth century to the present day.
Adagio ma non troppo e molto expressivo 0:01
Allegro molto vivace 7:26
Allegro moderato – Adagio 10:24
Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile 11:13
Presto 25:06
Adagio quasi un poco andante 30:20
Allegro 32:38
Allegretto– 0:12
Vivace– 7:12
Lento Assai– 11:08
Grave, ma non troppo– 19:53
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