Streichquartett B-Dur op. 18 Nr. 6

Beethoven's first attempt at a string quartet was commissioned by Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian Lobkowitz, whose palace had hosted performances by Beethoven back in the mid-1790s. Between 1798 and 1800 Beethoven composed six string quartets for the prince, collectively numbered opus 18. He broke new ground for the genre by entitling the last movement of the quartet in B flat major “La Malinconia” (Melancholy). The movement begins in surprising style with a melancholic adagio which, just as surprisingly, then morphs very quickly (or “attacca subito”, as the directions put it) into a dance-like allegretto so fast that it verges on an allegro.

This recording is by the Vienna Philharmonia Quartet. The group was set up in 1930 by the violinist Franz Samohyl (1912–1999), who was a member of the Vienna Philharmonic from 1936 onwards. The composition of the quartet was to change many times over the years. Other members included the violinist Siegfried Rumpold, who was initially recruited in 1938 as a viola player before going on to play the violin; the viola player August Pioro (1910–1980), who was part of the orchestra from 1945 to 1972, and the cellist Emanuel Brabec (1909–1998), who was a cellist with the Vienna Philharmonic from 1937 to 1972, and a principal cellist from 1940 onwards. The cellist Richard Harand would join the quartet later on, while Gustav Swoboda (1917–1996) would come to replace Samohyl as first violinist. The exact composition of the quartet on this recording is unknown.
(Constanze Köhn)