Parvulescu, Nicholeris, Liu, & Chang – June 14, 2015

Ludwig van Beethoven Duett mit obligaten Augenglasern in E-flat major, “Eyeglass Duo”, WoO32; String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3; and String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131Well known Bay Area artists present a program of chamber music by Beethoven spanning his creative life from his early years to a late quartet. Duett mit obligaten Augenglasern in E flat major, “Eyeglass Duo”, WoO32 is thought to have been a gesture of friendship for aristocrat and amateur ‘cellist Baron Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanowecz. The moniker, given by Beethoven himself, may have its origin in jest around the fact that both men needed eyeglasses while playing. The String trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3 comes from a similar early time period as the duo but is a serious, full scale mature work; its intensity foreshadows his later dramatic writing. The String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 is the last of his experimental quartets and is likely chronologically his final completed quartet. By Beethovens own admission his favorite, many consider it to be the apotheosis of his late period style.