The five string quartets in this volume are generally designated as Beethoven's middle quartets, even though stylistically they do not all build a closed unit. More than three years lie between the inception of the three quartets op. 59 (1806) and the quartet op. 74 (1809/10). In the quartets op. 59, Beethoven sprinkled several Russian folksong themes - an homage to Prince Razumovsky, who had commissioned the works. This is why the pieces are often called the Russian Quartets. The next quartet, op. 74 in E flat Major, was also given a nickname: thanks to extended pizzicato passages in the first movement, it is frequently called the Harp Quartet. The F minor Quartet op. 95, in turn, bears in the autograph title Quartet serioso. All five quartets are mature masterworks which demand high interpretative and technical mastery.
Beethoven: Quartet F major op. 59,1 [Rasumowsky] F major op. 59,1 Beethoven: Quartet C major op. 59,3 [Rasumowsky] C major op. 59,3 Beethoven: Quartet E minor op. 59,2 [Rasumowsky] e minor op. 59,2 Beethoven: Quartet f minor op. 95 Beethoven: Quartet E flat majeur op. 74 [Harp Quartet] E flat major op. 74