Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 Photo: Public Domain
This quartet was completed by Beethoven in 1826 and is the most popular of his so-called 'late quartets'.
It has seven tightly constructed movements to be played with as little pause between them as possible.
Beethoven himself considered it to be his finest string quartet, even if he did write a rather cheeky note on the score 'stolen and gathered together from various things here and there'.
Roger Fiske described it as 'the most original and the most consistently sublime of these quartets. This music floods the mind with its beauty'.
Many observers see this as the greatest of all the Beethoven string quartets, perhaps even the greatest work he wrote in any form.
Recorded 25 August 2018, Hunter Council Chamber, Wellington by RNZ Concert.
Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
