Presented by Derek Katz
Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert lived in the same city, but interacted with very different elements of Viennese society. This seminar will use the genre of the string quartet to explore the effects of patronage and of interactions with professional performers on Beethoven’s and Schubert’s compositional choices. While Beethoven had the luxury of hearing his quartets rehearsed by professional players employed by local aristocrats, most of Schubert’s quartets were written for his family members and other amateurs. In particular, we will feature the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh, who was the first to play almost all of Beethoven’s violin parts, and who instituted the first series of public chamber music concerts in Vienna, which inspired Schubert to compose his ambitious late quartets, intended to stand beside those of Beethoven.