Pieces › Ludwig van Beethoven

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

IV. Larghetto espressivo

Ludwig van Beethoven · 1810 · F minor · 176 bars · 324 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, D♭ major, D♭ minor, F major.