I've listened to this work many times along with the B-flat major quartet no. 13. The fugue is one of those rare pieces that caught my attention from the very beginning and held me in its grasp until the end. I think the piece is absolutely gorgeous. The first fugue subject is the one of the most haunting themes I have ever encountered.

I see that Busoni wrote a fantasy based on the piece. Is it even possible to play a direct transcription for piano 2-hands?

Thanks,

-Colin

EDIT: I meant to put this in the pianist corner.

You can ask a moderator to move it to the appropriate forum.

I absolutely love this piece, and would be rather interested in any piano transcriptions.

i remember hearing the piano version once, but thought it's not as good as the original string quartet version.

it sounded a little strange to me the first time i heard it, but it became fascinating in its scope and complexity after a few times of listenning.

Apparently Sheet Music Fox has a version for solo piano. It looks quite difficult.

I think any pianist interpreting this piece should take into account the version for quartet, of course, but also should exercise his or her complete command of rubato and accents, as well as the luxury of pedaling.

Does anyone have a favorite recording of the quartet? Or the piano version?

I really, REALLY want to play this.

-Colin

i think Beethoven himself transcribed it from quartet to piano. i guess that one from the link is Beethoven's.

I would recall reading somewhere that he did so because he feared the work wouldn't be published otherwise, and that it might be lost to posterity.

My understanding is that Beethoven asked someone (cannot recall who) to transcribe the Grosse Fugue for piano 4[/b] hands. In the event he was dissatisfied with the results and subsequently transcribed it himself. Thus it was his last piano work.
That wouldn't surprise me. After all he agreed with Clementi's request to convert the D major Violin Concerto to a piano concerto. (A horrid version- moments of piercing eloquence reduced to quasi-music box effect. What was Beethoven smoking?) But Clementi's argument that piano concertos were more marketable than violin concertos did make sense...

Antonius, you're (like me) a fan of Charles Rosen's writings. You recall that Rosen takes no prisoners in his insistence that the Grosse Fugue be returned to its original place as finale of the great Bb Quartet.

But Beethoven's new finale works well in its own right -a completely different solution to the "finale" problem- and I should not want to second guess the master. At least with CDs, we can program the quartet either way!

Similar case with Mahler 6: Scherzo or Andante first? (For the record, I'm firmly in the "Scherzo first" camp, dissenting opinions in a recent Gramophone notwithstanding.)

Amongst recordings, I've always loved the Quartetto Italiano.

(A moderator really needs to move this thread where it belongs...)

Beethoven transcribed the Grosse Fugue both for piano 4 hands and piano solo (Henle).

You can find Winkler's transcription for piano solo at the Henselt Library, under Winkler, not Beethoven:

http://www.henseltlibrary.org/scores4.html


Mel

I prefer the Lindsays' new recordings of the last quartets. The disc that has Op. 130 also has the Grosse Fugue (in fact in its original place). For some reason, the Quartetto Italiano release has them on different discs, but I suppose I could make a new CD that includes both.

I don't have strong opinions about the finale question, and we should not concern ourselves with weak opinions.

Hey Mel, are you sure about that? I've looked everywhere and can only find Winkler's transcription for piano 2 hands. I even asked on another forum and no one there was aware of anything except Beethoven's 4 hand transcription.

I would very much like to pick up the Henle score you mentioned, though...

actually, i agree totally with Rosen that Grosse Fugue to return being the finale of op.130. that new finale sounds out of place with op.130 (totally different moods), and i think it deserves to be a standalone work itself, rather than being played with op.130.