The first striking impression Opus 132 makes may be of inexplicable extremes. Kerman’s Beethoven string quartet class turned out to be a last-minute substitution for a seminar on Webern. Indeed, with amazing prescience, the string quartet Brooklyn Rider commissioned five composers to write short movements in response to Opus 132. Composers from a variety of backgrounds and cultures respond not to Beethoven’s music but to ways of applying Beethoven’s healing to their own causes. Its version of Beethoven’s Opus 132 is heart-wrenchingly deep drama.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 02, 2020 14:07 UTC