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Donald Macleod and his guests Laura Tunbridge and Edward Dusinberre discuss the tumultuous circumstances surrounding Beethoven’s late quartets, and the state of mind they emerged from.

Just two years before he died, Beethoven returned to an old treasured form, the string quartet. The five quartets he ended up writing would come to be his final major works, and would change the paradigm beyond recognition. Though dismissed by audiences in their day, their composition is now considered a pivotal moment not only in Beethoven’s life, but in the history of classical music. Donald is joined by musicologist Laura Tunbridge, and violinist Edward Dusinberre of the Takács Quartet, to discuss these extraordinary, watershed works that have bewildered and beguiled listeners ever since their creation. Throughout the week, they focus on each of the five late quartets, uncovering the stories, circumstances and conversations that surround them.

Today, we hear how Beethoven’s financial fretting and a sudden brush with death feed into his writing, with a focus on the second of the late quartets, Op 132.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020 as part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

Bagatelle in E flat, Op 126 No 3
Tanguy de Williencourt, piano

String Quartet in A minor, Op 132 (1st movement)
Takács Quartet

String Quartet in A minor, Op 132 (3rd movement)
Alban Berg Quartet

Fidelio, Act I: ‘Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin?‘
Helga Dernesch, soprano
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan, conductor

String Quartet in A minor, Op 132 (4th and 5th movements)
Alban Berg Quartet

Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker