String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven himself considered Op. 131 his greatest work. Its seven movements are played without a break, forming an arc from the profound fugue that opens the work — marked 'Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo' — through a set of variations, a scherzo, and an intense finale. Wagner, Brahms, and Schubert all revered it above all other music. It dissolves the boundaries of form and tonality in ways that anticipate the 20th century, yet remains deeply rooted in Classical structure.
Editions
Henle Verlag
Ernst Herttrich, 1997
Critical Urtext based on the autograph and first edition. The preferred scholarly edition, widely used in professional ensembles.
Bärenreiter
Jonathan Del Mar, 2010
New critical edition with detailed Quellen commentary resolving several disputed readings in the autograph.
Edition Peters
Wilhelm Altmann, 1912
Long-standard practical edition, well printed and easy to read; some editorial additions not differentiated from the original text.