This, the third in the series of Beethoven’s late quartets from the Ehnes Quartet deviates from the official ‘late’ works to include the last two of Beethoven’s ‘middle period’ quartets: The sunny and amiable E flat, known as the ‘Harp’, and the terse and irascible F Minor, known not surprisingly, as ‘Serioso’.

Beethoven had a habit of working on two works of wildly differing emotional ranges at the same time – never more clearly illustrated as in these two masterly quartets.

This is the final of four installments in the Ehnes Quartet’s survey of the late Beethoven Quartets. It was recorded in the US with their producer overseeing the sessions from London as the pandemic halted travel plans and sessions were canceled. “The albums we recorded during this intense two-week period will always be treasured reminders for us of a brief, bucolic window of artistic fulfillment during a terribly challenging period for the world,” said James Ehnes. They bring to these masterworks many years of experience.

The second instalment in the Ehnes Quartet’s survey of the late Beethoven Quartets recorded in the US with their producer overseeing the sessions from London as the pandemic saw the UK travel plans and sessions cancelled. They bring to these masterworks many years of experience: ‘the four CDs we recorded during this intense two-week period will always be treasured reminders for us of a brief, bucolic window of artistic fulfilment during a terribly challenging period for the world’ said James Ehnes.