Best slow movement of Beethoven's string quartets?

[Overtones]

See thread title.

"Best" is obviously "best for you" i.e. "the one you prefer" i.e. do not bother with objectivity/subjectivity issues.

[Biffo]

String quartet 15 in A minor, op.132. III Molto adagio - Andante - incomparable, for me and for one of the characters in Aldous Huxley's Point Counter Point (forgotten his name)

[amw]

String Quartet No. 10 in E flat, Op. 74 - II. Adagio ma non troppo

[Jo498]

For me at the top are the Dankgesang, the one from op.127 and the variations of op.131 (a little bit too "colorful" for a unified mood). Next would be probably the one from op.135, the cavatina, the first one of op.131 and the one from op.59/1. Then op.18/1 and op.74. Least favorite (if it passes for slow) would be op.59/3 (this and the c minor op.18/4 are Beethovens's most overrated quartets, IMO).

[Daverz]

For me, the Heiliger Dankgesang (Op. 132: III) is one of the most moving movements (ugh) in the whole string quartet literature.

[Brian]

Oddly my first thought is "Serioso" Op. 95 because it's so concise and says so much in such tiny, hyperemotional little cells of material.

[SymphonicAddict]

My nominations would be:

#14 - I (my first choice)

Others:

#15 - III
#1 - II
#8 - II

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

My own favorite is not on the list - the Adagio from the 1st Razumovsky (Op. 59/1).

Was tempted to put the Heiliger Dankgesang, but it seems to be a hard piece to get right in performance, with the contrasting tempo sections and those long meditative stretches.

[Brian]

Op. 18 No. 1 always shocks me. It feels like it should appear a good 6 or 7 quartets later, and in a good performance its climax is nearly terrifying. Especially since the quartet as a while begins so meekly.

[Daverz]

Op. 18 No. 1 always shocks me. It feels like it should appear a good 6 or 7 quartets later, and in a good performance its climax is nearly terrifying. Especially since the quartet as a while begins so meekly.

Listening to 18/1 to refresh my memory (Alexander SQ/Foghorn).  The outburst in the slow movement is very strikingly modern sounding.

"[...] actually the second string quartet that Beethoven composed.

"According to Beethoven's friend Karl Amenda, the second movement was inspired by the tomb scene from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._1_(Beethoven)

[Jo498]

The op.18/1 F major is not really the first quartet, only in publication order. It was the second (#3 was the first although its finale was revised/added later) and revised again after Amenda had seen it (although this revision seems to mainly concern the first mvmt.)
I don't think it begins "meekly". While the first movement is not untypical for (even early) Beethoven in strong thematic concentration and mundane thematic material, it is still quite powerful, not as playful as the first movements of #2, #5 and #6. The pathos of the second movement (maybe with a Rome & Juliet association) seems a stark contrast, but Beethoven had done similar things in piano sonatas several years earlier. The closest parallel (for the slow movement) might be op.10/3.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I was curious and listened to the work last night, the recording by the Cleveland Quartet. I know I've listened to the work before, because I went through the entire Guarneri/Philips cycle a few years back, but I felt no sense of recognition.

The Adagio is certainly the high-point of the work and I like the statement of the primary thematic material and the way the development unfolds. I assume the "climax" that was referred to is the passage near the very end. It didn't make such a strong impression on me, maybe I was expecting too much. The quartet as a whole didn't strike me as being among Beethoven's more successful works.

The real revelation, that came to me when I was about midway though this quartet, is that the first violin in the Cleveland is William Preucil, the Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster who was fired because of his habit of luring young women into intimate situations through promises of musical mentorship, sexually attacking them, and threatening their careers if they exposed his behavior.

I won't be listening to the Cleveland Quartet again. I was in the middle of a gradual survey of their Beethoven cycle, but I think I will delete the FLAC files and get rid of the discs themselves (if I can find them). He plays the fiddle well enough, but there are enough good violinists out there that I don't have to listen to a degenerate predator.

Listened again to the Endellion Quartet version, and I think the slow movement came off marginally better, but still no thunderbolts.

I think I will try to go through the Beethoven Quartets again, but I have so many cycles where I have only listened to the late quartets (Endellion, Quartetto Italiano, Vermeer, Berg) and others I have not heard at all (Takacs, Guarneri I, Tokyo, Prazak, Artemis). I'm on the Endellion, maybe I'll continue with that.

[amw]

There are two Cleveland Quartet cycles btw, the earlier of which (on RCA) is Preucil-less. If you like their playing otherwise it may be worth seeking that out, either on LP or asking around for FLACs (I know I have them).

My personal favourite version of Op. 18/1 is probably the Smetana Quartet's BBC recording:
https://www.youtube.com/v/AsBlKM4C36c

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

There are two Cleveland Quartet cycles btw, the earlier of which (on RCA) is Preucil-less. If you like their playing otherwise it may be worth seeking that out, either on LP or asking around for FLACs (I know I have them).

Thanks for the kind offer, but the excellent Telarc sound was a large part of the attraction of this set. I have so many recordings of these works that I despair of listening to them all before I shed this mortal coil.

Preucil is out. I'm still undecided about the Leipzigerquartett, whose principal violinist burst naked into an elderly woman's New York hotel room and tried to murder her. I guess he gets a pass since he has an excuse, he had a bad reaction to the drugs that were given him by the prostitute he had hired that night. Oh dear me.

[amw]

Stefan Arzberger of the Leipzigers claimed he was given date rape drugs, which was pretty obviously a lie, and tests found no sign of them in his system. That claim was only made after it came out that the prostitute he had hired was transsexual, presumably so he could conceal his fetish for trans people from his wife by claiming it was date rape (he also apparently succeeded in getting the prostitute arrested and I believe she is in prison now, for unrelated charges though—credit card fraud). It seems much more likely that they had a consensual sexual encounter which also involved Arzberger purchasing and ingesting drugs of a somewhat less legal variety, for recreational purposes, something that's very common at the high levels of the classical music world. Since the incident Arzberger quietly dropped his claims of being drugged, at least in court and in press releases, took a plea deal and settled with the woman he assaulted for an undisclosed sum, which suggests his lawyers were also aware the excuse was a fabrication.

The remainder of the Leipziger Streichquartett is also somewhat questionable—they were spotted making transphobic/homophobic comments in the wake of the incident and more recently cellist Matthias Moosdorf has been noted to be an AfD supporter (Germany's far-right political party) posting anti-refugee propaganda on social media, spreading fake news about muslim crime statistics and Soros conspiracy theories etc. There's a German classical music blogger who has been documenting this at intervals.

None of them are quite as bad as Preucil but I'd suggest staying away from them if you are nonwhite, gay, trans, a refugee, etc (and hope their hotel rooms are far away from yours when they go on tour). I still listen to their albums, but I didn't spend any money on the ones I have so that's an easy decision >.>

[Brian]

None of them are quite as bad as Preucil but I'd suggest staying away from them if you are nonwhite, gay, trans, a refugee, etc (and hope their hotel rooms are far away from yours when they go on tour). I still listen to their albums, but I didn't spend any money on the ones I have so that's an easy decision >.>

As the son of a Muslim immigrant I am looking askance at the Leipziger Schumann quartet/quintet set on my shelves right now...

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.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Fortunately I never developed a taste for the Leipzigers. I think I have 2 or 3 of their discs on my shelves, and it will not discomfort me to bypass them.

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). And what's the world coming to when you can't get a proper transsexual prostitute in New York without all this drama.

I listened to Beethoven's 2nd Quartet last night, Endellion. I liked the quartet, perhaps, a bit better than the first. Still, I don't find it too compelling. As I remember from my previous traversal of the Beethoven Quartets, it is in the Op 59 Quartets that it starts to click with me.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Op. 131 is probably Beethoven's most perfect string quartet, the slow movement is no exception. So my vote is for op. 131.

[Jo498]

As the son of a Muslim immigrant I am looking askance at the Leipziger Schumann quartet/quintet set on my shelves right now...

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.

As it is now in countries like Germany there are actually many thousands of (recentish) illegal immigrants that are NOT deported, although in legal theory it would be correct to deport them. Because for all  kinds of reasons they are allowed to stay or authorities are simply unable to get them to leave.

There is nobody, except extreme fringe rightists demanding that e.g. second generation Turks in Germany should be deported.

OTOH we have to deal with the fact that a majority of Turks living in Germany support a ruthlessly nationalist leader who ignores the claims of minorities like the Kurds, basically annexed a part of Syria, jailed thousands of journalists or "dissidents" etc.
We also have to "tolerate" an extremist rightwing organization that has more than 10,000 members in Germany and might be the most numerous extremist/prototerrorist group active here. Some of their members have been active in established German parties and many more in Turkish cultural associations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Wolves_(organization)

In brief, that slope is slippery in several directions and one should be very careful treading there, especially when judging from the other side of the world.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I voted for the Op 130, Cavativa. I like its succinct construction. Could have voted for any of the late quarters.