This course aims to enhance your understanding and appreciation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music by exploring a genre at the very core of his development as a composer: the string quartet. Evenly distributed among the periods into which his life and work are customarily divided, his 16 quartets offer a broadly representative record of his changing musical language. The six quartets of the first period followed closely in the footsteps of Beethoven’s teacher Haydn, the acknowledged “father” of the genre; the five quartets of the middle period significantly expand musical form as well as the range of dramatic expression; the remaining five quartets, written in the composer’s idiosyncratic “late style,” take the genre to unheard-of levels of innovation.
Join Other Email Learners
Follow the guide on landing page
About the course Defining the String Quartet II: Beethoven
Taught by music historian and Stanford Professor Stephen Hinton in collaboration with the university’s ensemble-in-residence, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, you’ll be given a critical overview of Beethoven’s quartets and their reception history. Using a mix of lectures, discussions and copious demonstrations, Professor Hinton will focus in detail on three complete quartets: one early, one middle, and one late. As a special course feature, you’ll view live performances by the SLSQ recorded in Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall.
What you’ll learn from Defining the String Quartet II: Beethoven
About Beethoven’s transformative achievements in the realm of the string quartet
Strategies for describing, analyzing, and interpreting Beethoven’s music
How Beethoven’s compositions evolved during his career and how they have been viewed throughout history
DISCLAIMER: Courses on Future Syllabus are free but subject to return to their original prices on host platforms upon coupon expiration. Enrol while they are free. To report any error, use the "Further Actions" tab.