Progetto Martha Argerich

italiano

Works

Ludwig van Beethoven

Grosse Fuge op. 134 (vers. per 2 pianoforti)

 

The Great Fugue for string quartet, Op. 133, is usually played as a separate piece, but that is not how Beethoven originally conceived it. It was meant to be the finale of the Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130, and that is how it was performed when the work was first presented to the Viennese public. But that performance so disoriented the audience and even the performers that Beethoven persuaded himself of the need to replace the finale. To that end, he wrote a new piece, in rondo form, which then became the “official” finale of the Quartet, Op. 130. As to the Grosse Fuge: it was published separately, with the opus number 133. Beethoven also transcribed it for piano, four hands, and it is that version, published as Op. 134, upon which today’s two-piano performance is based.

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Performers

Performance