Ravinia 2025 Issue 2

MARTIN THEATRE 7:30 PMWEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2025 JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET ARETA ZHULLA and RONALD COPES, violins MOLLY CARR, viola # ASTRID SCHWEEN, cello ISIDORE STRING QUARTET # ADRIAN STEELE and PHOENIX AVALON, violins DEVIN MOORE, viola JOSHUA MCCLENDON, cello BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, op. 130 Adagio ma non troppo—Allegro Presto Andante con moto ma non troppo Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo Finale: Allegro Juilliard String Quartet WIDMANN String Quartet No. 8 ( Beethoven Study III ) * Allegro con brio Variationen über Beethovens “Alla danza tedesca” (op. 130/4) Rondo: Prestissimo Juilliard String Quartet –Intermission– MENDELSSOHN String Octet in E-flat major, op. 20 Allegro moderato, ma con fuoco Andante Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo Presto Juilliard and Isidore String Quartets # Steans Institute alum * First performance at Ravinia Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Sponsor Lynne & David B. Weinberg . LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, op. 130 The Russian prince Nikolay Borisovich Galitzin, an amateur cellist and ardent admirer of Beetho- ven’s music, commissioned “one, two, or three” string quartets on November 9, 1822, for a price to be named by the composer. Galitzin also mentioned that he would “accept the dedica- tion with gratitude.” Before receiving the blank- check offer, Beethoven seriously considered whether he should return to the string quartet after a 12-year hiatus. Other, more pressing proj- ects—the already past-due Missa solemnis , the Diabelli Variations , and the Ninth Symphony— demanded his immediate attention. Several months passed before Beethoven re- sponded to the patient Russian patron. On Janu- ary 23, 1823, he set the price at 50 ducats apiece, offered to give the cello special attention, and promised to deliver the first score by March. Meanwhile, Beethoven began negotiating publi- cation rights with several German and English firms—ever the savvy businessman, he tripled his income from the commission before com- pleting a single quartet. Once at work, Beethoven composed the three quartets within a year: op. 127 in E-flat major by February 1825; op. 132 in A minor by July 1825; and op. 130 in B-flat ma- jor, with the Grosse Fuge finale, by January 9, 1826. Ignaz Schuppanzigh and his quartet gave the premiere of op. 130 on March 21, 1826, with mixed results. Karl Holz characterized the range of responses as “inspired, astonished, or ques- tioning.” Published reviews emphasized the in- comprehensibility of this adventurous chamber music score. Oddly, Beethoven did not attend the premiere but waited at a nearby tavern for news of the performance. Upon learning that the audience demanded encores of the scher- zo and Danza alla tedesca , he exclaimed: “Yes, these delicacies! Why not the fugue?” Ludwig van Beethoven by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1823) RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 71