Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets

Book Description

Breitkopf & Härtel edition. 6 quartets of Opus 18; 3 quartets of Opus 59; Opera 74, 95, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135 and Grosse Fuge. Study score.

Customer Reviews:

Clear enough to play from!.......2006-11-03

The large page size of this Dover edition makes it easy to read, if not to
carry around. But when you want to play the score on the piano or just one part, it is great.

A World of Creativity.......2003-08-20

Beethoven's string quartets are basic for any music lover's library. Beethoven wrote string quartets throughout his composing life, and they reflect his evolving art. Never resting on his laurels, Beethoven continually grew artistically until the end.

It is difficult to label Beethoven as primarily a symphonist, chamber music composer, or piano composer. Practically every ensemble and form he used he produced masterpieces that reflect not only the music he wrote, but the music he wrote within the ensemble he chose. His music does not transcribe well at all.

A music lover needs to be acquainted with pieces from each of the ensembles to have any kind of grasp on the monumental influence that Beethoven has had on western music. Perhaps a good beginning would be the piano sonatas, but the string quartets have to have a place also.

From the early quartets to the last quartets, the amount and variety of music in the quartet opus alone is astounding. Like the other genres he composed in, some of his best music is in the string quartets.

One of the best ways to get the most out of this music is to follow along in the score. It is a good way to learn to follow more than one staff of music at a time, and is a good primer that can lead to full orchestral score reading. And the music...incredible!

A ton of music, a pittance of a price. Serious music lovers, take the hint! Highly recommended!

Perhaps the best bargain in music ever..........2002-06-15

Not every Dover score is a gem; some are merely reprints of earlier editions complete with the typographical errors that didn't get caught the first time around. But this edition of Beethoven's complete string quartets is of excellent quality, and for the price it may well be the best bargain in music ever. The music is incredibly important--superb pieces by one of the most gifted people to ever live. That all the quartets are included allows the student of these works to trace Beethoven's stylistic development in a single volume from the early quartets rooted in the Classical tradition through those absolutely innovative late quartets, which combined Baroque contrapuntal and formal elements with Romantic harmonies and Beethoven's own unique sense of rhythm and drama. (In addition to the originally published version of the final quartet with the new final movement suggested by his publisher, the Grosse Fuge is included also.) I recommend to all my music students and especially my composition students that they get these pieces and study them throughout their lives. I can honestly say that I have learned more from these quartets than from any other, similar body of music literature by a single composer; and even as a composer of twenty-first century music I am continuously educated and inspired by them.

A MUST.......2000-05-20

This edition of the Beethoven String Quartets is by far the best value. It is a must for any musician. The music is carefuly researched, clearly marked, and printed on high quality paper for many years of use. This Dover edition is like all of the other Dover scores, OUTSTANDING! I use my copy all of the time and could not live without it. Thanks Dover. Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes, The Lindsayan String Quartet

The Art of Quartet Playing: The Guarneri Quartet (Cornell Paperbacks)

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music inside scoop
thank you very much for prompt & smart sending
An amazing quartet with lots to say!

The Art of Quartet Playing: The Guarneri Quartet (Cornell Paperbacks)
David Blum , and the Guarneri Quartet
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801494567

Customer Reviews:

music inside scoop.......2007-10-04

Fascinating look into the specifics of how a string quartet actually works. Lots of inside information.

thank you very much for prompt & smart sending.......2006-02-28

The book which I received was like a new book.
I was satisfied with the shopping. Thank you very much.

An amazing quartet with lots to say!.......2000-03-31

My first encounter with the Guarneri String Quartet was in reading Arnold Steinhardt's book, *Indivisible by Four*. There, I gained an understanding and fascination for the relationships within the quartet and the overall amazing professional and musical workings of a well-established chamber group. This fascination led my to seek out *The Art of Quartet Playing*. In this book, David Blum and the Guarneri quartet explore various technical aspects of quartet playing and string playing in general. Many of the ideas for rehearsal and performance techniques presented by the quartet (on topics including the decisions as to which players should give cues and when) provide useful advice for quartets of all levels. While mere descriptions of quartet techniques could tend to get old fast, the quartet members' witty and satirical comments, often coming out of nowhere, keep the reading entertaining as well as informative. This book ends with a journey through the score of Beethoven's Opus 131 quartet, guided by the explanations of the people who know it best, the musicians who play it. I recommend this book to anyone who loves string quartets, playing them or listening to them. While it may not take hold of the imagination as fully as *Indivisible by Four*, there is much to be learned and enjoyed in these conversations between David Blum and the Guarneri String Quartet.

Complete String Quartets Transcribed for Four-Hand Piano (Series II)

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Complete String Quartets Transcribed for Four-Hand Piano (Series II)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486239756

Book Description

Today’s four-hand pianists will greatly enjoy the later string quartets of Beethoven—some of the finest compositions in western music—in these excellent, faithful transcriptions. Included are Opp. 74, 95, 127, 130-133, 135. For piano students (at intermediate level) and seasoned performers. Originally published by C. F. Peters.

Late String Quartets and the Grosse Fuge, Opp. 127, 130-133, 135 (Dover Miniature Scores)

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Good Study Score

Late String Quartets and the Grosse Fuge, Opp. 127, 130-133, 135 (Dover Miniature Scores)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486401111

Book Description

Among the master's most exalted compositions. String Quartets No. 12 in E-flat, Op. 127; No. 13 in B-flat, Op. 130; No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131; No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132; the Grosse Fuge in B-flat, Op. 133 and No. 16 in F, Op. 135.

Customer Reviews:

Good Study Score.......2006-07-02

You get 5 late Beethoven quartets plus the Grosse Fuge (some of the best chamber music ever written) in one inexpensive volume. Covenient size, although sometimes the 5-systems-per-page layout is a bit crowded.

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very interesting book
Extremely technical, yet interesting...
Not for someone who has not had formal training in music

The Beethoven Quartets
Joseph Kerman
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393009092

Customer Reviews:

very interesting book.......2003-06-20

Don't be scared away from this book, which is actually very interesting and well writen. I don't have a degree in music but have read little bit about music history, hamony, fugue and some music forms, which seems enough to comprehend this book. I do prefer the music analysis in detail rather than a few sentence of descriptions or generization of a piece of music, especially from the great composer like Beethoven. I just got this book and have read only a few pages, but it already attracts me. It has very detailed historical background of each Beethoven's string quartet and the analysis of it. I am really pleased to have this book!

Extremely technical, yet interesting..........2002-10-27

This book is really only for serious music students or musicologists - I would bet that most normal musicians or instrumentalists would have a difficult time even understanding it. As far as deep analysis and technical/structural interpretation goes, this book is probably one of the best available for the subject matter it covers. It is not for the "casual listener" or for those of you who are interested in the quartets and want to just read amusing anecdotes about their composition. This is a serious, scholarly study of the music itself, not a biography or history - although those subjects do play a part, of course, in relating the music to Beethoven's personal psychology. As such, I think it is vital for most Beethoven scholars or advanced music students to have - for reference if not for pleasure. Those of you who just want to read about Beethoven, his times, the genesis of his music, and to lightly touch on some technical matters might want to try a standard like Burk's "The Life and Works of Beethoven" or some of the more recent volumes.

Not for someone who has not had formal training in music.......2001-06-13

I am unqualified to write a review of this highly acclaimed book, because I am neither a musicologist nor a student of music.

If you have training in music, please ignore this review. I give it 5 stars merely because it is highly acclaimed.

I'm writing this mostly because it is not mentioned here on Amazon, or elsewhere, what the book consists of, and whether "casual listeners" can read it. The answer is "no".

I purchased this book because I love the late quartets intensely, and I was looking for something that would be a pleasure to read, and something that might deepen my understanding of the quartets (especially the late quartets).

I found that I could not comprehend more than a few sentences in the entire book. Almost nothing is said about the non-musicological aspects of the quartets; nothing that evokes wonder or inerest - for the casual listener, of course. Although I would not use the word "casual" to describe myself as a listener - I've been listening to the quartets for more than a decade now, and find something new every time - it remains that without formal training, this book is entirely incomprehensible. It is a series of technical analyses, and might as well have been written in Japanese as far as I am concerned.

Book Description

While the Beethoven string quartets are to chamber music what the plays of Shakespeare are to drama, even seasoned concertgoers will welcome guidance with these personal and sometimes enigmatic works.
This collection offers Beethoven lovers both detailed notes on the listening experience of each quartet and a stimulating range of more general perspectives: Who has the quartets' audience been? How were the quartets performed before the era of sound recordings? What is the relationship between "classical" and "romantic" in the quartets? How was their reception affected by social and economic history? What sorts of interpretive decisions are made by performers today?
The Companion brings together a matchless group of Beethoven experts. Joseph Kerman is perhaps the world's most renowned Beethoven scholar. Robert Winter, an authority on sketches for the late quartets, has created interactive programs regarded as milestones in multimedia publishing. Maynard Solomon has written an acclaimed biography of Beethoven. Leon Botstein is the conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra as well as a distinguished social historian and college president. Robert Martin writes from his experience as cellist of the Sequoia Quartet. And the book is anchored by the program notes of Michael Steinberg, who has served as Artistic Advisor of the San Francisco Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Customer Reviews:

Despite appearances, this deserves to be included with the set of Michael Steinberg program books.......2006-10-09

It is nowhere preconized that the core of this fine book (half its pages, in fact) is extensive notes on the pieces themselves by the gold-standard musicologist and annotator Michael Steinberg. While there is much fascinating historical and contextual material by the editors and others, anyone who has enjoyed and learned from Steinberg's famous series the Symphony, the Concerto, and Choral Masterworks should know that this is effectively a fourth volume of his superb notes.

Essential for LVB lovers, and not *just* LVB quartet lovers.......1998-07-17

This book should have been called simply "The Beethoven Companion." While it focues on the string quartets, it deals with many facets of the composer's life, and with life in Vienna at the time. Detailed but never dull, thorough but never technical, the book describes performance practice, takes you into the minds of interpretors, and deals with such fascinating philosophical considerations as Romanticism vs. Classicism, the meaning of the so-called "last period," and audience expectations in Beethoven's time. Essays by Beethoven scholars are thought-provoking. I know a fair amount about Ludwig, but time and again I found myself learning new things, or reconsidering old wisdom. I have many books on the Quartets, and on Beethoven in general. This one ranks among the very top of the heap.

Early String Quartets: Op. 18 Complete (Dover Miniature Scores)

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Early String Quartets: Op. 18 Complete (Dover Miniature Scores)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486431339

Book Description

This buoyant, youthful-sounding set of chamber music contains all six works in Beethoven's Op. 18: Quartet No. 1 in F major, No. 2 in G major, No. 3 in D major, No. 4 in C minor, No. 5 in A major, and Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable new miniature-score edition offers music lovers, performers, and students an opportunity to study Beethoven's early quartets in an accessible, convenient format.

Beethoven's Quartets (Dover Books on Music)

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Beethoven's Quartets (Dover Books on Music)
Joseph de Marliave
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486439658

Book Description

Remarkably readable and accessible exposition presents a bar-by-bar, theme-by-theme analysis of all 16 quartets and the Grosse Fuge. Features clear analyses — including 321 musical examples — and a wealth of documentary material make this one of the most authoritative studies of Beethoven's quartets, as well as one of the most enjoyable.

Middle String Quartets, Opp. 59, 74, and 95 (Dover Miniature Scores)

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Middle String Quartets, Opp. 59, 74, and 95 (Dover Miniature Scores)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486419053

Book Description

Supreme masterpieces of the genre: 3 Rasumovsky String Quartets (Op. 59, No. 1 in F major; Op. 59, No. 2 in E minor; and Op. 59, No. 3 in C major. Collection also contains String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 74 ("Harp"), and String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 ("Quartetto serioso"). Reproduced from the definitive Breitkopf and Hartel edition, these works are ideal for reference and classroom study.

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The String Quartets of Beethoven

Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0252030362

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