Best slow movement of Beethoven's string quartets?

[amw]

The original incident and self-serving story was bad enough. What really turned me off was the entitled reaction from the quartet, that it was an outrage that he was arrested and being charged when it was so obvious that he was the real victim (never mind the old lady he tried to strangle).

Oh it was very definitely a "he was tricked by this nefarious scheming tranny" (when anyone who's ever leafed through a personals ad section knows that trans prostitutes explicitly advertise as such to attract their particular clientele) with significant undertones of "these sorts of people shouldn't be allowed to roam the streets without having a pink triangle sewed onto their clothing or something". I can't recall any of their public statements/press releases even mentioning the old lady. And now that Conrad Mück has departed once again & Arzberger is free to leave the USA he'll probably rejoin the quartet none the worse for wear.

Given that political beliefs which directly threaten my family and oppose (theoretically) my own existence are now accepted in the mainstream American and European conservative movements, purging albums because of artists' political views is an alarmingly slippery slope for me. Probably a sizeable percentage of classical musicians over a certain age want my mother deported, and I don't know if I want to think about that.

It's hard to avoid confronting things like that at a certain point. I think it's possible to appreciate someone's artistry whilst also condemning their personal views or actions, but that only goes so far; everyone draws their line somewhere. For example I'm a Jewish woman, and there are plenty of great composers who were deeply antisemitic (Wagner, Debussy, Stravinsky—though he apparently mellowed out later in life—d'Indy etc), or whose treatment of women was unpleasant, creepy or criminal (Gesualdo the wife murderer, Bruckner reportedly sexually harassing & exposing himself to female students, Janáček stalking Kamila Stösslová etc). At the same time there are other great composers who were committed to antifascism, antiracism, antimisogyny, antihomophobia etc (Bartók and Shostakovich come immediately to mind). I personally try to take all of them as they are, with both good and bad—it's not as though I can make Stravinsky less racist or Saint-Saëns stop molesting boys—although when it comes to the still living, I'm happy to listen to the recordings of a Philip Pickett, William Preucil or James Levine but not so happy as to contribute to their personal wealth in the process.

And.... yeah. I don't think about it much either. The good news is that there are probably fewer Trump/Bolsonaro/Erdoğan supporters among classical musicians than there are among classical listeners. If that counts as good news.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

My litmus test, are they alive or are they dead?

I'm not going to boycott someone who is dead and gone, as long as their works don't have a connection to misconduct. But I'll be damned if I'm going to facilitate further abuse by putting money in the pocket of someone who I regard as personally despicable.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

At the same time there are other great composers who were committed to antifascism, antiracism, antimisogyny, antihomophobia etc (Bartók and Shostakovich come immediately to mind).

I'm not so sure about Bartok. It seems like all of his program works have some sort of misogynistic subtext (Bluebeard, Miraculous Mandarin). And as a grown man he married a child, then when she grew up he divorced her and married another child.

I have no qualms about listening to him, but I do not hold him up as a paragon of virtue.

Now, we're way off topic. Returning.

I listened to Beethoven Quartet No 4 in c-minor. The first Beethoven Quartet that had a finale that I liked. But it has a scherzo and a minuet, but no slow movement. This Beethoven was sure a slow learner when it comes to quartets. I'm despairing of finding a Quartet I can willingly listen to before Op 59. I'm sticking with Op 130.

[Brian]

I listened to Beethoven Quartet No 4 in c-minor. The first Beethoven Quartet that had a finale that I liked. But it has a scherzo and a minuet, but no slow movement. This Beethoven was sure a slow learner when it comes to quartets. I'm despairing of finding a Quartet I can willingly listen to before Op 59. I'm sticking with Op 130.

Luckily, the Op 18 set does save best for last. That said, the only one of the six I don't much enjoy is the one with the "Mexican Hat Dance" in the finale, because it's just too distracting. Not really his fault! Kind of like how Liszt's first concerto reminds me of the M*A*S*H theme song.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Luckily, the Op 18 set does save best for last. That said, the only one of the six I don't much enjoy is the one with the "Mexican Hat Dance" in the finale, because it's just too distracting. Not really his fault! Kind of like how Liszt's first concerto reminds me of the M*A*S*H theme song.

Mexican hat dance? Which one is that? Up until Op 18, No 4, it seemed to me that Beethoven's goal for the finale was to have the performers play as many notes in as short a time as humanly possible.

No 5 is up tonight.

[Brian]

Mexican hat dance? Which one is that?

finale of No. 3.

If you don't like No. 6...I can't help you! 

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

finale of No. 3.

If you don't like No. 6...I can't help you! 

I'm getting there. Actually every quartet had at least one movement that I liked, typically two. I'm searching for one in Op 18 where I will willing listen to all four movements.

[amw]

Honestly Op.18 no.1 is the one in which I like all four movements, but Op.18 no.6 is also pretty good.

My top choice for slow movements is Op.74 (as mentioned above) after which I would go for the first movement of Op.131, the fifth movement of Op.130, the third movement of Op.132, the variations of Op.127 and then probably the "slow" movement of Op.59 no.3 which someone mentioned actively disliking above. I like 59/3 because of the repetitive, obsessive nature of it, which is probably the reason others dislike it.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Okay, I liked all four movements of Op 18, No 5. The outer movements were solid, the menuetto was charming, and the slow movement was a theme and variation based on an astonishingly dull theme which went interesting places. I made a discovery about the Endellion Quartet recording. I was listening to softly. Turning up the volume a bit allowed the sound to bloom. It is a sort of dry, up-front recording so the range between loud enough and too loud is narrow.