String Quartet No. 14 (Beethoven)

The String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131, was completed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1826. It is the last-composed of a trio of string quartets, written in the order op. 132, 130 (with the Große Fuge ending), 131.

It was Beethoven's favourite of the late quartets: he is quoted as remarking to a friend that he would find "a new manner of part-writing and, thank God, less lack of imagination than before". It is said that upon listening to a performance of this quartet, Schubert remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?"Robert Schumann said that this quartet and Op. 127 had a "...grandeur [...] which no words can express. They seem to me to stand...on the extreme boundary of all that has hitherto been attained by human art and imagination."

This work is dedicated to Baron Joseph von Stutterheim as a gesture of gratitude for taking his nephew, Karl, into the army after a failed suicide attempt.

About 40 minutes in length, it consists of seven movements played without a break, as follows:

A fugue based on the following subject:

Richard Wagner said this movement: "reveals the most melancholy sentiment expressed in music".

A delicate dance in compound duple meter in the key of D major, in compact sonata form based on the following folk-like theme:

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