Beethoven 4 Strings: Part III

Beethoven found inspiration in a near-death experience… In the spring of 1825, he fell seriously ill. When he recovered, he did what Beethoven always did – turned the experience into music. The slow movement of Quartet N° 15 is headed «Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Deity, from a convalescent» and it’s every bit as personal as that sounds, building from almost nothing into something overwhelming. Paired with the earlier N° 6, whose final movement Beethoven titled «La Malinconia» (melancholy), this is a concert about what music can say when words aren’t enough.