{"id":40818,"date":"2024-03-25T16:43:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9724cea0-7d8a-4987-bf16-ddcef95fee76"},"modified":"2024-03-25T17:39:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T16:39:59","slug":"best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of Beethoven: Top 20 Beethoven works"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Michael Tanner\n <\/p>

Published: Monday, 25 March 2024 at 15:43 PM<\/p>

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With a back catalogue as extensive as Beethoven’s, it can be difficult to know where to start. Never fear \u2013\u00a0we’ve gathered together some of the highlights of the canon to pick out some of our favourites. Here, we name 20 of the best Beethoven works, from symphonies<\/a><\/strong> to piano works, quartets to concertos<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>

Best Beethoven works<\/h2>1) Variations & Fugue on an Original Theme \u2018Eroica\u2019, Op. 35 (1802)<\/h3>
These amazing variations, written when Beethoven<\/strong><\/a> was 32, are on a theme that fascinated him for many years and recurs in the Eroica<\/strong><\/a><\/em> Symphony<\/strong><\/a> (see below). Here the melody is subject to a series of ever wilder, often hilarious transformations, some of the later ones almost shocking in their audacity.<\/p>
The composer, himself a great pianist<\/a><\/strong>, often liked to wrong-foot his audiences, especially with tender passages at which he roared with laughter. This piece is a prime example of his aggression being put to mischievous purposes.<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-symphony-no-3-eroica-op-55-1804\">2) Symphony No. 3 \u2018Eroica\u2019, Op. 55 <em>(1804)<\/em><\/h3><p> Two years later, <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> made his single most stunning advance with his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-3-eroica\"><strong>Third Symphony<\/strong><\/a>. Not only is it the longest symphony written up to that time, it also has, in a vague way, a subject matter, as indicated by its title. Forget about Napoleon, as <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> did. This is about the heroic spirit in general, not one instance of it.<\/p><p>After its initial two hammer blows, it surges into a prolonged movement in which passages of lyric beauty give way, time and again, to terrifying onslaughts. The second movement \u2013 greatest of all funeral marches \u2013 shows who won. That movement itself ends by crumbling into silence.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/the-best-horn-concertos-of-all-time\">The best horn concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>The third movement, a simmering, rollicking <em>Scherzo <\/em>with a lusty trio for three <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/the-history-of-the-french-horn\">horns<\/a><\/strong>, shows that <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> is not going to take death lying down; the last, a set of variations, takes the <strong>\u2018Eroica\u2019<\/strong> theme and shows how many kinds of joy are possible. After this, nothing could be the same. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/beethovens-funeral-how-the-composers-final-farewell-attracted-more-attendees-than-michael-jacksons\">Beethoven’s funeral: how the composer’s final farewell attracted more attendees than Michael Jackson’s<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-string-quartet-in-f-op-59-no-1-razumovsky-1806\">3) String Quartet in F, Op. 59 No. 1 \u2018Razumovsky\u2019 <em>(1806)<\/em><\/h3><p><strong>Beethoven<\/strong> perhaps kept his deepest feelings for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/best-string-quartet-ensembles-ever\">string quartets<\/a><\/strong>, of which he wrote three sets: early, middle and late, and a couple of isolated ones. This first of three so-called \u2018Razumovsky\u2019 quartets is a work on a huge scale, once more breaking the mould of its genre.<\/p><p>Its soaring opening melody is utterly captivating, not least to its own composer who stole it, modified, for a later chamber work. The teasing <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-scherzo\">Scherzo<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>has the instruments interrupting one another, while the slow movement plumbs depths that nothing before in <strong>Beethoven<\/strong>\u2019s chamber music had.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beethoven String Quartet Op.59 No.1 "Razumovsky"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oXLKu-HglnM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-violin-concerto-in-d-op-61-1806\">4) Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61 <em>(1806)<\/em><\/h3><p>Beethoven\u2019s genius was not primarily for melody; he was much more interested in development and transformation. His Violin Concerto is an exception. Though the basic motif of the huge first movement is five drum notes \u2013 as unthematic as can be, yet pervasive \u2013 when the full orchestra takes over it is with a soaring melody, taken still further by the soloist who plays some of Beethoven\u2019s most serene, touching music.<\/p><p>There is more drama, oddly, in the slow movement than in the outer ones. Beethoven wrote no cadenza for the soloist, though he did make a piano version of the work and wrote four <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-cadenza\">cadenzas<\/a><\/strong> for that, one of which is sometimes adapted for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/violin-history\">violin<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p><p>We named this as one of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-violin-concertos-of-all-time\">best violin concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>Recommended recording:<\/strong> Hilary Hahn (violin), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra\/Zinman Sony Classical SK 60584<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/20-greatest-violinists-all-time\"><strong>The 20 Greatest Violinists of all time<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-symphony-no-5-op-67-1804-8\">5) Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 <em>(1804-8)<\/em><\/h3><p>If <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-5\">Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony<\/a><\/strong> had a nickname, surely it would be \u2018The Unavoidable\u2019. One almost comes to dread those four notes which begin the work and never leave it alone. Yet it remains astonishing in its ferocity and in the uneasy feeling it can \u2013 should \u2013 give the listener of uncertainty about whether he or she is being attacked or is indeed the attacker. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/20-best-beethoven-recordings-all-time\"><strong>20 of the best Beethoven recordings of all time<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><p> Whichever, in a fresh performance it should still knock your socks off. The <em>Scherzo<\/em> has goblins stalking the earth (or so the author EM Forster thought in <em>Howards End<\/em>) and leads thrillingly to the finale, the most convincing non-religious orchestral celebration up until then. <\/p><p>Find out more about <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/beethoven-guide-his-symphonies\">Beethoven’s symphonies here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><p><strong>Recommended recording:<\/strong> Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra\/Carlos Kleiber DG 471 6302<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.5 & 7\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6eOuqhCfrTPp1H0YbQ9PmL?utm_source=oembed&go=1&play=1&nd=1&nd=1\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-fidelio-op-72-1805\">6) Fidelio, Op. 72 <em>(1805)<\/em><\/h3><p> If there is one musical genre <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> was not equipped to undertake, it is opera. Yet he wrote one, <em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/best-recordings-beethovens-fidelio\">Fidelio<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and it is a supreme masterpiece. Its subject \u2013 heroic defiance of tyranny, a wife disguised as a youth so that she can work in a prison and free her wrongly incarcerated husband \u2013 was a standard \u2018rescue opera\u2019, a genre naturally popular after the French Revolution.<\/p><p>The libretto is in many ways absurd, the spoken dialogue (there are almost no recitatives) inept, and <strong>Beethoven<\/strong>\u2019s writing for the voice is, to put it gently, inconsiderate. And yet it has the power to move the listener to tears and ecstasy as few pieces do.<\/p><p>The heroine Leonore\u2019s resolution, the agony of the scene where she thinks she is digging her husband\u2019s grave and the unrestrained rejoicings at the end are among the glories of drama, of all art.<\/p><script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/players\/xjL98ot4-lqFafnwo.js\"\/><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-piano-concerto-no-5-emperor-op-73-1809-11\">7) Piano Concerto No. 5, \u2018Emperor\u2019, Op. 73<em> (1809-11)<\/em><\/h3><p> This is Beethoven for once savouring the fulness of his powers with a work of celebration \u2013 not of something in particular, but of the joy of creation. As with many composers, particular <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/musical-keys-explained\">musical keys<\/a><\/strong> had connotations for him, and E flat \u2013 a key which meant much the same for Mozart \u2013 is a promise of richness and excitement.<\/p><p>The climax of the first movement, where orchestra and soloist confront one another with the same chord, is for once no battle but a jubilant display of strength. The slow movement is an ecstatic dream, and the last bounds away with irrepressible energy, until it finally decides to take a rest.<\/p><p>We named this as one of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/greatest-piano-concertos-all-time\">best piano concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beethoven - 5th Piano Concerto 'Emperor' (Zimerman, Bernstein, Wiener Philharmoniker)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hDXWK3W477w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-symphony-no-7-op-92-1811-12\">8) Symphony No. 7, Op. 92<em> (1811-12)<\/em><\/h3><p>Whenever <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-7\">Beethoven's 7th Symphony<\/a><\/strong> is mentioned, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/richard-wagner\"><strong>Wagner<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s description of it as \u2018the apotheosis of the dance\u2019 is bound to follow. There\u2019s an interesting story of Wagner dancing his way through it while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/franz-liszt\"><strong>Liszt<\/strong><\/a> played his piano reduction of it \u2013 oh, to be a fly on the wall. Whatever, its most striking features are its pulverising energy in three of its movements, and its concentration on rhythm almost at the expense of anything else.<\/p><p>The other famous thing said about it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/carl-maria-von-weber\"><strong>Weber<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s claim that it showed that Beethoven was ripe for the madhouse. Even the celebrated slow movement is more interesting for its rhythm than for its melody. It almost seems that Beethoven was intent on exhausting the possibility of writing one kind of music \u2013 and subsequent composers seem to have agreed that he had, until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/igor-stravinsky\"><strong>Stravinsky<\/strong><\/a> arrived on the scene a century later.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 - Iv\u00e1n Fischer | Concertgebouworkest\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-4788Tmz9Zo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-symphony-no-8-op-93-1812\">9) Symphony No. 8, Op. 93<em> (1812)<\/em><\/h3><p> For a long time there was agreement that Beethoven\u2019s odd-numbered symphonies were the big boys, while the even-numbered ones were comparatively light relief. That\u2019s not ridiculous, but it is false, and in no case more than in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-8\">Beethoven's Eighth Symphony<\/a><\/strong>. This is a compact work, mischief in every bar, pretending to be traditional, but always doing things which even as kindred a spirit as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/joseph-haydn-2\">Haydn<\/a><\/strong> might have been shocked by.<\/p><p>There is something demonic in its humour, as you might expect from Beethoven at this summit of his career: those who think that \u2018serious\u2019 and \u2018funny\u2019 are opposites have the shallowness of that view ruthlessly exposed by this arch-master of emotional disruption. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-violin-sonata-in-g-op-96-1812\">10) Violin Sonata in G, Op. 96 <em>(1812)<\/em><\/h3><p>This, the last of Beethoven\u2019s ten <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/discovering-music-sonata-form\">sonatas<\/a><\/strong> for violin and piano, is a piece so glowing with good humour and gentleness that it is almost unique in Beethoven\u2019s oeuvre. The two performers are on genial terms from the opening exchange of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-atrill\">trills<\/a><\/strong> onwards, and when the violin takes off out of sheer high spirits, it is with the full support of the piano.<\/p><p>This self-delight is maintained throughout the work; the longest movement is the last, unusually, and is a set of variations which at one point has a typically Beethovenian <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-fugue\">fugal<\/a><\/strong> passage, dry and austere, which sets the benignity of the rest of the Sonata in relief. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-11-piano-trio-op-97-archduke-1814\">11) Piano Trio, Op. 97, \u2018Archduke\u2019 <em>(1814)<\/em><\/h3><p> This is the last masterpiece of Beethoven\u2019s \u2018middle\u2019 period, and if it had been his last work we would have felt content that he ended on so comprehensively embracing a piece. Yet the greatest were still to come. The opening melody recaps that of the First \u2018Razumovsky\u2019 Quartet, but the mood is more genial, and that is maintained.<\/p><p>The slow movement has a rapt beauty nearly unique in Beethoven\u2019s output, with a depth of feeling that presages what is to come. Often when this Trio is played, listeners don\u2019t talk for some time after. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-12-an-die-ferne-geliebte-op-98-1816\">12) An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 <em>(1816)<\/em><\/h3><p> Beethoven isn\u2019t thought of as a major contributor to German <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/the-history-of-french-art-song\">art-song<\/a><\/strong>, but to all intents he founded it, composing more than 80 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/what-are-lieder\">lieder<\/a><\/strong> (we named the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/the-best-lieder-ever-written\">best Lieder of all time here<\/a><\/strong>), many of them fine but neglected.<em> An die ferne Geliebte<\/em> (\u2018To the distant beloved\u2019) is his most striking achievement in this line, and the first German song cycle: six pieces, the last reinforcing the first.<\/p><p>On the subject of more or less helpless love, they may not be as agonised as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/franz-schubert\">Schubert<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/robert-schumann\">Schumann<\/a><\/strong>, but they\u2019re plangent and equally melodious. They also show that Beethoven, whose music is almost never erotic, could express the urges he had in common with his fellow human beings, though he usually concentrated on what he regarded as nobler ones.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beethoven : An die Ferne Geliebte, op.98 (English subtitles)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KOk7EWYbyqk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-13-piano-sonata-in-b-flat-op-106-hammerklavier-1818\">13) Piano Sonata in B flat, Op. 106, \u2018Hammerklavier\u2019<em> (1818)<\/em><\/h3><p>The <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/best-recordings-beethovens-hammerklavier-sonata\">Hammerklavier Sonata<\/a><\/strong> is one of Beethoven\u2019s two most intimidating works, and one of his greatest. It makes superhuman demands on its performer and listeners, and rewards them for a lifetime. Almost an hour long, it is ferociously compact, with a vast slow movement that plumbs the depths of agony or calm, depending on the listener.<\/p><p>The final movement is a gigantic fugue \u2013 a form Beethoven was by now obsessed with \u2013 on an immense, remorseless subject that virtually explodes before a few bars of peace lead back into the madness. There is no more astonishing music than this. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-14-piano-sonata-in-c-minor-op-111-1820-3\">14) Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 111<em> (1820-3)<\/em><\/h3><p> This, the last of Beethoven\u2019s 32 piano sonatas, brings them to a conclusion so ultimate that it\u2019s amazing anyone has written sonatas since. It\u2019s in only two movements, the first of which is declamatory, energetic, and not even all that great. But following that comes a set of variations which it\u2019s hard to believe anyone could have composed.<\/p><p>A slow and simple melody expands into the most extraordinary rhythms, even jazzy at one point, and ascends until the pianist is playing a triple trill, louder then softer, and the whole piece comes to rest.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/five-best-recordings-beethovens-sonata-cycles\"><strong>Five of the best recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-15-diabelli-variations-op-120-1823\">15) Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 <em>(1823)<\/em><\/h3><p>Anton Diabelli was an ungifted performer who bet on immortality by writing a trivial little waltz which he sent to many composers, including Liszt and Schubert, asking for a variation on it. They obliged. <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> binned it, then fished it out and wrote 33 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/what-are-variations\">variations<\/a><\/strong>, his unbelievable peak of pianistic invention and inspiration.<\/p><p>The fecundity is such that you can listen to them daily and still find new things. The end never disappoints: after a stunning fugue, the pianist holds a chord for a long time and then moves into the most gracious, elegant minuet. This, from Beethoven! <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-16-missa-solemnis-op-123-1819-23\">16) Missa solemnis, Op. 123 <em>(1819-23)<\/em><\/h3><p> <strong>Beethoven<\/strong> had no fixed religious beliefs, though he liked statements of Eastern origin such as \u2018I am I\u2019. But he had a religious temperament and, having written one rather routine mass earlier, girded his loins and produced this, his largest and most intransigent work.<\/p><p>Whereas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/johann-sebastian-bach\"><strong>Bach<\/strong><\/a> had no religious doubts, so his works have a comforting security, Beethoven seems to be trying to bring a religion into being with his assertiveness and emphases and even desperation. There are some beautiful, even sensuous passages, and it ends with a desperate cry for (earthly) piece. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-17-symphony-no-9-op-125-1822-4\">17) Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 <em>(1822-4)<\/em><\/h3><p>Surely everyone will agree that the first three \u2013 purely orchestral \u2013 movements of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-9\">Beethoven's Symphony No. 9<\/a><\/strong> work are the greatest symphonic movements Beethoven created. The first is crushing, the second a huge counter-attack of energy, the third a profound set of variations.<\/p><p>With four vocal soloists and a chorus added, the fourth movement, the great affirmation of brotherhood under a benign Father, has created the greatest division of opinion, not least due to the public uses to which it has been put. Many listeners, however, find it deeply moving.<\/p><p><strong>Recommended recording:<\/strong> Tomowa-Sintow, Baltsa, Schreier, Van Dam, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra\/Karajan DG 477 6325<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jSlYq8x0xNg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-18-six-bagatelles-for-piano-op-126-1824\">18) Six Bagatelles for piano, Op. 126 <em>(1824)<\/em><\/h3><p> These short pieces, which Beethoven wrote while in the midst of composing, with enormous effort, his last and most strenuous works, must have been as much a relief for him to write as they are for us to listen to. Only one or two are regularly played, but they are all chips off a supreme master\u2019s workshop, and are delightful.<\/p><p>If you feel you need something in between the sublimity of Beethoven\u2019s most demanding and rewarding works, and the routines of everyday life, then these gently cheerful pieces provide the ideal bridge. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-19-string-quartet-in-b-flat-op-130-inc-the-grosse-fuge-op-133-1825-6\">19) String Quartet in B flat, Op. 130 (inc. the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133) <em>(1825-6)<\/em><\/h3><p> The last quartets \u2013 five of them \u2013 are Beethoven\u2019s will and testament. They are original in every way, this one with six movements, including the gigantic and rebarbative fugue as the finale. There are no external criteria to assess them by, since they are like nothing else in music.<\/p><p>Op. 130 has a slow movement, the Cavatina, which made Beethoven weep when he thought about it. It\u2019s hard to envisage anyone responding differently. <\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-20-string-quartet-in-c-sharp-minor-op-131-1826\">20) String Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131 <em>(1826)<\/em><\/h3><p> Stravinsky wrote of this work: \u2018Everything in this masterpiece is perfect, inevitable, unalterable. It is beyond the impertinence of praise. The most affecting music of all, to me, is the beginning of the <em>Andante moderato<\/em> variation. The mood is like no other and the intensity, if it were to endure a bar longer, would be intolerable.\u2019<\/p><p>It was another great composer, Wagner, who first celebrated the perfection of this work, perhaps above all the transcendental fugue with which it opens. At the end Beethoven writes a furious <em>Allegro<\/em> movement which brings us down to earth, realising that what we have been listening to earlier demands a purity of spirit which not many people can achieve or maintain.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/tag\/beethoven-reviews\"><strong>Read reviews of the latest Beethoven recordings here<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p><strong><em>Top image credit: Getty Images<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Michael Tanner Published: Monday, 25 March 2024 at 15:43 PM With a back catalogue as extensive as Beethoven’s, it can be difficult to know where to start. Never fear \u2013\u00a0we’ve gathered together some of the highlights of the canon to pick out some of our favourites. Here, we name 20 of the best Beethoven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40819,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"12"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works.jpg",1500,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works.jpg",1500,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/best-of-beethoven-top-20-beethoven-works.jpg",1500,1000,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Tanner Published: Monday, 25 March 2024 at 15:43 PM With a back catalogue as extensive as Beethoven’s, it can be difficult to know where to start. Never fear \u2013\u00a0we’ve gathered together some of the highlights of the canon to pick out some of our favourites. Here, we name 20 of the best Beethoven…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}