Beethoven "Serioso" String Quartet

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="a79015a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>906-910 W. Ainslie Condominiums </B></FONT><B>  </B><B>   |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="906910 W. Ainslie Condominiums "><B>home</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>"Serioso" String Quartet, Op. 95</B></I></div> <div> <B>by Ludwig van Beethove</B></div> <div> <I>Melissa Barrett,violin</I></div> <div> <I>Tristan Lehnert, violin</I></div> <div> <I>Yvonne Johnson, viola</I></div> <div> <I>Angela Maleh, cello</I></div> <div> <B>If your computer's sound system is working you should be hearing a commercially recorded excerpt.</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="466" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER ROWSPAN=4 HEIGHT= 25 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="9f169690.jpg" border=0 width="105" height="105" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP ROWSPAN=4><NOBR><div> I.   <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Gill Sans MT" >Allegro con brio</FONT></div> <bR> <div> II.  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Gill Sans MT" >Allegretto ma no troppo</FONT></div> <bR> <div> III. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Gill Sans MT" >Allegro assai vivace misterioso</FONT></div> <bR> <div> IV. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Gill Sans MT" >Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitato - Allegro</FONT></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> </tR> <tR> </tR> <tR> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Beethoven wrote string quartets throughout his career, 16 in all. The so-called “early” quartets were classically proportioned, in   the mold of Haydn and Mozart. The “middle” quartets got longer due to Beethoven's growing genius for melodic and harmonic development. The <B><U>“Serioso” String Quartet, Op. 95</U></B> is transitional, a bridge from “middle” to “late” periods. The composer's notebooks show passages shortened, compressed, or abandoned all together in the interest of economy and impact. It is a new ground zero that would allow Beethoven into territory where no composer had gone before, the haunting and profound quartets of his “late” period. All Beethoven's music is worthy of close listening, but this quartet especially.  So much gets expressed with such economy of means.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <a href="JavaScript:window.close()">Close</a>  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I> <p> <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=4,0,0,0" width=0 height=0 align="absmiddle"> <param name=movie value="mp3ss207s.swf"> <param name=quality value=best> <param name=wmode value=transparent> <param name=bgcolor value=#FFFFFF> <param name=loop value=false> <embed src="mp3ss207s.swf" quality=best wmode=transparent bgcolor=#FFFFFF loop=false width=0 height=0 type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" align="absmiddle"> </embed> </object> </p>  </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> </td> </tr></table></body>