Six Quartets for 2 violins, viola and violoncello (F, G, D major, C minor, A, B-flat major) op. 18

The six String Quartets op. 18 were written between the years 1798 and 1800. They were a first for Beethoven: until then he had not dared to compose anything for this genre. He had already written many pieces of chamber music, including several for string instruments. But by the time he ventured to compose a string quartet, the genre in which Mozart and Haydn had excelled, he had already written about half his works for piano. Beethoven was commissioned to write the quartets in autumn or winter 1798-99 by Prince Lobkowitz. The sequence of the quartets was different from the one we know today. In late autumn 1798 Beethoven began with the third quartet in D major, completing it at the beginning of 1799. Between January and March he wrote the first quartet in F major, followed by the second one in G major, which he probably finished in May of the same year. He delivered a copy of the first three quartets to Prince Lobkowitz probably at the beginning of October. According to the sketches, he began work on the fifth quartet in A major right after completing the first three quartets, but left it to work on other pieces. The quartet was, however, finished in autumn 1799. Afterwards he wrote the fourth quartet in C minor and finally the sixth quartet in B-flat major, which he composed in spring or summer 1800. He thoroughly revised the first three quartets in same summer and presented all six to Prince Lobkowitz in October 1800. (J.R.)