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Defining the String Quartet II: Beethoven

7 Weeks

$ 50

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Brief Introduction

This course aims to enhance your understanding and appreciation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music by exploring a genre at the very core of his development as a composer: the string quartet. Evenly distributed among the periods into which his life and work are customarily divided, his 16 quartets offer a broadly representative record of his changing musical language. The six quartets of the first period follow closely in the footsteps of Beethoven's teacher Haydn, the acknowledged “father" of th

Description

Taught by music historian and Stanford Professor Stephen Hinton in collaboration with the university's ensemble-in-residence, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, you’ll be given a critical overview of Beethoven’s quartets and their reception history. Using a mix of lectures, discussions and copious demonstrations, Professor Hinton will focus in detail on three complete quartets: one early, one middle, and one late. As a special course feature, you’ll view live performances by the SLSQ recorded in Stanford's Bing Concert Hall.

Knowledge

About Beethoven’s transformative achievements in the realm of the string quartet
Strategies for describing, analyzing, and interpreting Beethoven’s music
How Beethoven’s compositions evolved during his career and how they have been viewed throughout history

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Defining the String Quartet: Haydn

The string quartet can be defined in several ways. At the most basic level the musical term refers to the medium of four string instruments: two violins, viola, and violoncello....

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