Charles Bye (violin)
Geoffrey Parker-Smith (violin)
Horace Ayckbourn (viola)
George Roth (violoncello) Beethoven's six Quartets, Op. 18, were composed in the period 1798-
1800 and published in Vienna in 1801, the first set of three in June, the second set in October. They were dedicated to the composer's friend and admirer, Prince Lobkowitz, himself an excellent violinist. No. 4 in C minor is the finest of the six, full - at any rate in the first and fourth movements-of deep lyrical feeling and great dramatic power. As again in the ' Pathctique ' Sonata, the Violin Sonata. Op. 30, and the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven chose the key of C minor to express deep and passionate emotion.