Preface
The late Beethoven quartets, I find, swim in and out of focus. Occasionally, one seems close to mining their secrets; at other times, they seem as remote as some inaccessible Himalayan massif. Now this work, now that seems less elusive; then the clouds gather once more about the mountain tops, and the summits are again hidden. But one opinion which I have always held, and which is advocated in this essay, is that, in the case of the Op 130 quartet, it is Beethoven’s original finale – the so-called Grosse Fuge – that should be played, not the replacement which he later wrote and published with the remainder of the work. The most intractable movement which Beethoven ever conceived deserves its original position, and the uncomprehending listener may as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb.