Elias String Quartet

String Quartet in D major Op. 18 No. 3
String Quartet in F minor Op. 95
String Quartet in B flat major Op. 130 (new finale)

The second of the Elias Quartet’s three concerts this year exploring Beethoven’s string quartets opens with the first quartet he ever composed, the gentle and lyrical Op. 18 No. 3. Of the Op. 95 quartet, Beethoven wrote ‘[it] is written for a small circle of connoisseurs and is never to be performed in public’. That’s because it was written as an experiment on compositional techniques, showing how Beethoven adapted and transformed the form.

The final piece, the Op. 130 quartet, is the culmination of Beethoven’s career: the new finale he added six months after its premiere in 1826 was the last substantial piece he completed before his death.