Day 238: String Quartets Op. 132 and Op. 135

BeethovenCD43Somber. That’s how I classify today’s music.

It’s ponderous.

Sad, even.

Here’s what I am listening to:

Beethoven String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor Op. 132

Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F Op. 135

Here’s who’s playing it:

Suske Quartett

Karl Suske violin I
Klaus Peters violin II
Karl-Heinz Dommus viola
Matthias Pfaender cello

I can’t say I like today’s music. I mean, I could say it. But I’d be lying.

Day 222: Piano Trios IV

BeethovenCD27On one hand, this CD is more of the same: Piano Trios performed by Trio Elegiaque (Laurent Le Flecher, violin, Virginie Constant, cello, and Francois Dumont, piano).

Yet, it’s different.

Piano Trio in B Flat Op. 97 “Archduke” is melodic, enchanting, and very pretty. For one thing, I’m a sucker for pizzicato, the plucking of strings. It’s a sound both compelling and lighthearted, sort of like when a character in a Disney cartoon movie sneaks up on another character. It’s that tip-toe sound the instruments make. So everyone leans in.

Halfway through Movement I (“Allegro moderato”) there’s a break in which pizzicato strings and a trilling piano hold sway. There’s even a part where the pizzicato strings and the piano play a run together.

Then, it all kind of breaks down into what sounds like improvisational jazz or experimental music. But then the cello returns the melody and the strings and piano return to form.

It’s very clever.

Totally what I’ve come to know as classic Beethoven.

What a style.

All of the compositions on today’s CD are interesting, imminently listenable.

Piano Trio in B Flat Wo039

Piano Trio in E Flat Op. 63 after the String Quarter Op. 4