String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6

Composer: BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
  • Beethoven composed his Op. 18, a set of six string quartets, over the course of 1798-1800.1
  • Beethoven dedicated Op. 18 to his aristocratic patron Prince Lobkowitz (whose palace would host the private premiere of the “Eroica” Symphony in 1805.)2 
  • Op. 18 No. 6 differs from the average Classical-era string quartet in that it contains five movements, not four. Additionally, the (harmonically daring) fourth movement bears a programmatic title, “La Malinconia” (“Melancholy”).3

Sources

  1. Douglas Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed August 20, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040026. 
  2. “String Quartet No. 6, Op. 18 No. 6 (Beethoven, Ludwig van),” IMSLP, accessed August 20, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.6%2C_Op.18_No.6_(Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van).
  3. Ibid.

Cut IDs

42447 20712 21022 23677 23070