Beethoven's last string quartets are universally regarded as supreme, transcendent works -- among the greatest and most intimate music in chamber literature. Composed in the last years of the master's life -- from 1823 to 1827 -- these quartets contain astonishing experiments in thematic development and musical form that laid the foundation for innovations in 20th-century string quartet writing, especially in the important works of Bart k and Shostakovich.
This...