Beethoven String Quartets

A. Early Quartets (age 27~30)
 
Opus 18

• No. 1 in F major
• No. 2 in G major
• No. 3 in D major - lighter than the others
• No. 4 in C minor
• No. 5 in A major
• No. 6 in B♭ major - the 4th movement [melancholy] 

 
 
B. Middle Quartets (age 35~40)
 
Opus 59 (Rasumovsky)

• No. 7 in F major
• No. 8 in E minor
• No. 9 in C major

 
Razumovskys ; the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count (later Prince) Razumovsky, himself an accomplished musician who played second violin in his own quartet. For his benefit Beethoven includes Russian themes in the first two of the set.
 
Other Middle Period Quartets

• No. 10 in E♭ major, Op. 74 (Harp) - the plucked strings in the first movement…the lighter of the two, but no less characteristic of Beethoven for that. Its final movement is a theme and variations, a form much loved by Beethoven and one he usually reserved for the piano
• No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 (Serioso) - a masterpiece in compression from the first bar onwards, and certainly a foretaste of what is to come in the final set of Quartets.

 
 
C. Late Quartets (age 54~56)

• No. 12 in E♭ major, Op. 127
• No. 13 in B♭ major, Op. 130 - the Cavatina…Even more remarkable, in my view, is the slow movement of Op.130, the Cavatina. It is utterly beautiful, even if you have no idea what is happening in Beethoven’s life. Over a gently pulsating rhythm from the three lower strings, the first violin sobs. In the fragmented notes there is anguish and despair…The original final movement of op.130 was the Grosse Fuge, a massive movement that is clearly too massive and unwieldy to sit at the end of the preceding five.
• No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131 - It is said that upon listening to a performance of this quartet Schubert remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?"[2] Schumann said that this quartet and Op. 127 had a "grandeur ... which no words can express. They seem to me to stand ... on the extreme boundary of all that has hitherto been attained by human art and imagination."
• No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 Große Fuge, Op. 133 - Sacred Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode…Beethoven recovered, but knew he had come close to death. That is what lies behind this extraordinary movement of op.132.
• No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 - ..listen to the slow movement of the final String Quartet, op.135. Simply beautiful. Beautifully simple..

 
 
 
 
 
Ref.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:String_quartets_by_Ludwig_van_Beethoven
2. https://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/guides/beethovens-music-string-quartets/

Beethoven's String Quartets: John Suchet's guide to the music

3. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)