Beethoven's String Quartet Nr. 15 in a-minor
As we all know, Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies. Those of you who read my post about his Sonata No. 30 know that he wrote 32 of them. How many of you are familiar with his 16 string quartets? I have only recently become a string player myself, but I'll bet all of you who already play a string instrument know them. They are often played in chamber music concert settings. But chances are that you don't go to such concerts if you don't play an instrument that is often played in such settings. I don't want you to miss out on a beautiful piece of music, though, so I'm going to present to you the third movement of the Quartet in a-minor. I love slow movements - especially Beethoven's - and this one is no exception. This Molto Adagio movement is titled "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit; in der lydischen Tonart". That's a "Song of thanks to the Deity from a convalescent in the lydian mode". It sounds better in German. He wrote...