The Busch String Quartet:
Adolf Busch (violin) ; Gosta Andreasson (violin) ; Karl Doktor (viola) ; Hermann Busch (violoncello)
For technical mastery, musical imagination, and depth of feeling Beethoven's last group of five string quartets is generally acknowledged to be the crowning achievement of the master's life. The Op. 130, in B flat, consists of six movements all of which are concentrated in thought and highly intellectualised in treatment. Two movements, particularly, stand out for their extraordinary beauty-the exquisite Alia danza tedesca and the deeply moving Cavatina. The original finale was the ' Grosse Fugue ', but, owing to its length and complexity, the publisher, Artaria, and certain friends prevailed upon Beethoven to have it issued as a separate work and to substitute the present less formidable allegro.