Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets [Paperback]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Author), Music Scores (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1970

This affordable study score features Beethoven's entire oeuvre of string quartets. Includes: 6 quartets of Opus 18; 3 quartets of Opus 59; Opuses 74, 95, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135, and Grosse Fuge. Meticulously reprinted from the authoritative Breitkopf & Härtel edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486223612
• ISBN-13: 978-0486223612
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Historical Period > Classical
  • #5 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Beethoven
  • #12 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Opera

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST, May 19, 2000

By 

Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Paperback)

This edition of the Beethoven String Quartets is by far the best value. It is a must for any musician. The music is carefuly researched, clearly marked, and printed on high quality paper for many years of use. This Dover edition is like all of the other Dover scores, OUTSTANDING! I use my copy all of the time and could not live without it. Thanks Dover. Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes, The Lindsayan String Quartet

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best bargain in music ever..., June 15, 2002

By 

Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Paperback)

Not every Dover score is a gem; some are merely reprints of earlier editions complete with the typographical errors that didn't get caught the first time around. But this edition of Beethoven's complete string quartets is of excellent quality, and for the price it may well be the best bargain in music ever. The music is incredibly important--superb pieces by one of the most gifted people to ever live. That all the quartets are included allows the student of these works to trace Beethoven's stylistic development in a single volume from the early quartets rooted in the Classical tradition through those absolutely innovative late quartets, which combined Baroque contrapuntal and formal elements with Romantic harmonies and Beethoven's own unique sense of rhythm and drama. (In addition to the originally published version of the final quartet with the new final movement suggested by his publisher, the Grosse Fuge is included also.) I recommend to all my music students and especially my composition students that they get these pieces and study them throughout their lives. I can honestly say that I have learned more from these quartets than from any other, similar body of music literature by a single composer; and even as a composer of twenty-first century music I am continuously educated and inspired by them.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A World of Creativity, August 20, 2003

By 

Alan Beggerow (Sterling, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Paperback)

Beethoven's string quartets are basic for any music lover's library. Beethoven wrote string quartets throughout his composing life, and they reflect his evolving art. Never resting on his laurels, Beethoven continually grew artistically until the end.

It is difficult to label Beethoven as primarily a symphonist, chamber music composer, or piano composer. Practically every ensemble and form he used he produced masterpieces that reflect not only the music he wrote, but the music he wrote within the ensemble he chose. His music does not transcribe well at all.

A music lover needs to be acquainted with pieces from each of the ensembles to have any kind of grasp on the monumental influence that Beethoven has had on western music. Perhaps a good beginning would be the piano sonatas, but the string quartets have to have a place also.

From the early quartets to the last quartets, the amount and variety of music in the quartet opus alone is astounding. Like the other genres he composed in, some of his best music is in the string quartets.

One of the best ways to get the most out of this music is to follow along in the score. It is a good way to learn to follow more than one staff of music at a time, and is a good primer that can lead to full orchestral score reading. And the music...incredible!

A ton of music, a pittance of a price. Serious music lovers, take the hint! Highly recommended!