Pieces › Ludwig van Beethoven

String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95 “Serioso”

III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso

Ludwig van Beethoven · 1810 · F minor · 207 bars · 364 chords analysed

Beethoven's most compressed quartet; he wrote that it was “never to be performed in public”.

Beethoven's 16 string quartets trace his whole life. The six of Op. 18 (1798–1800) master the classical style he inherited from Haydn and Mozart; the middle quartets stretch it; the late quartets (1825–26), written when he was completely deaf, are among the most searching music ever composed.

Keys visited: F minor, C minor, G♭ major, D major, B minor.