Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 13: V. Cavatina (Arr. Charles-Valentin Alkan)

The Cavatina (short aria) is the heart and soul of Op.130, and one of Beethoven’s most deeply personal and intimate slow movements. The music is profoundly simple and pure, revealing with the utmost clarity Beethoven’s sense of humanity, and perhaps, his depiction of the fragility of life. Karl Holz, who was the second violinist of the Schuppanzigh Quartet, reported that Beethoven “wrote the Cavatina amid sorrow and tears; never did his music breathe so heartfelt an inspiration, and even the memory of this movement brought tears to his eyes.” The centerpiece of the music is a recitative section marked “beklemmt” (“oppressed”), where the anguished solo in the first violin wanders above the unrelenting procession in the accompanying instruments. Just as the music seems like it may be literally torn apart by the meandering violin solo, the instruments come back together for one last murmured statement of the Cavatina theme.
(Kurt Baldwin)
Composed in 1826, transcribed circa 1870.
pf: Stephanie McCallum
original audio: • String Quartet in B-Fl...

[@EggMCMUFFIN-e4l]

This SQ was years ahead of its time. One of my favorites

[@mduftube]

Hard agree. That series he wrote toward the end of his life were some of the best music ever written.

[@rexy7399]

Alkan sure had some great taste!

[@vpdemantova]

Yeah, this is my all time favorite beethoven piece.. So happy to found this

[@mduftube]

I wouldn’t have guessed it could sound so beautiful on the piano. This is a great transcription.

[@DreamBoatPianoArchive]

The sheet music for this is glorious to look at-wonderful transcription also :)

[@vpdemantova]

4:00 4:10

[@ChAlkan]

Gustav Mahler hat sich offenbar mit seinem Adagietto von diesem Stück inspirieren lassen…

[@craigthomas6733]

So why did Beethoven write 4 tied quavers rather than a minim in the final bar. Could it be a way of notating a graduated diminuendo and if so how can it be played on the piano?

[@james.housego]

its a way of notating a swell towards and away from the 3rd quaver, it can't be mimicked on the piano

[@MozartFong]

Interestingly this pianist plays all the quavers which makes sense i think

[@jessicaeskebk5945]

Imagine if he transcribed the Grosse Fuge, recipe for greatness

[@EggMCMUFFIN-e4l]

lol Beethoven transcribed it himself for two pianos (the next opus after the grosse fugue”

[@jessicaeskebk5945]

@@EggMCMUFFIN-e4l very true but just imagine!

[@SCRIABINIST]

Before Godowsky, we had Alkan.

[@h3nn35y]

Beautiful arrangement by Alkan, thank you for uploading this! May I ask, where did you get the sheet music for this?