# What do you think of Beethoven's Grosse Fuge?



## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

My own answer is 3. I am glad he wrote a replacement movement.

This video explains the work:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think it's absolutely amazing. I'm just glad I don't have to play it.


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

This is an extremely entertaining and informative video, thank you for showing me this. I think the Grosse Fugue is the greatest piece Beethoven wrote for string quartet.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Now we are talking.

And as for string quartets, I will take this:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Its a great piece but it took me longer to get into than his other quartets. It is indeed a challenging work but a highly rewarding one.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

That is a very interesting link. I still don't like that portion, which is easily my least favorite among Beethoven's works (sorry, Ludwig), but I appreciate that analysis. I think both offerings for that movement have value as historical documents.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Loved it from the second I first heard it. I do think its claims of being “foreshadowing of modernism” and Stravinsky’s assertion that “it is an absolutely contemporary work that will be contemporary forever” are pretty exaggerated; it just sounds like Beethoven to my ears.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Awesome, and I don't listen to it much (I reserve my favorite pieces of music to special moments).

Great analysis by the way!


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

The Grosse Fuge is my favorite piece of all time.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

A masterpiece, jam-packed with catchy, consistent melodic ideas. I think it's an inevitable consequence of his musical temperament. Interestingly, I think the closer a Beethoven work is to Grosse Fuge in timeline, the more it anticipates Grosse Fuge in character in its sections. (As if they're pointing towards GF, which is perhaps the most ideal thing Beethoven wanted to achieve his whole life)
Starting with the heavy sforzando beats of the serioso quartet in F minor,

9th symphony scherzo: 



Grosse Fuge: 




Op.127 first movement (which is one of my favorite late Beethoven moments along with Op.131 first movement):





I find the "final consolation/redemption" in the last 2~3 minutes of Grosse Fuge to be deeply moving - one of the most emotionally profound endings in string quartet music.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Fabulin said:


> Now we are talking.
> 
> And as for string quartets, I will take this:


I love the Grosse Fuge, but the full orchestrated version is just a major bummer. I don't get the point. It adds nothing.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

My favorite Grosse Fuge is by the Tokyo Quartet.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

As with the Hammerklavier sonata I can appreciate how daring it is, but...

I just don't like it.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Loved it from the second I first heard it. I do think its claims of being "foreshadowing of modernism" and Stravinsky's assertion that "it is an absolutely contemporary work that will be contemporary forever" are pretty exaggerated; it just sounds like Beethoven to my ears.


it sounds like Beethoven with all his power but it sounds also extremely modern. It's a much more angular, anti-gracious work than any other thing of him I've heard, even compared to the other late string quartets.


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## gregorx (Jan 25, 2020)

I voted awesome. For me, it's stuff like this that sets Beethoven apart from Bach, Mozart and Brahms. This and 131 are my favorite works by LVB. I agree with those who think this sounds modern. I'm surprised some early '70s English rock band didn't do a variation on this for three guitars and Hammond organ (one of Keith Emerson's bands, maybe).


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

When I first heard it, I was rather surprised and did not enjoy it. I was confused and didn't understand why Beethoven would write that music. Now it may be my favorite work for string quartet. I think it's beautiful, exciting, breathtaking, amazing, powerful, and remarkably satisfying. I feel that I could listen to this work every day for a year straight. It's simply a monumental work.


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## EmperorOfIceCream (Jan 3, 2020)

To me, it is a summation of the history of music, of all that came before Beethoven and all that would ever come after him. It sounds like Shostakovich, Haydn, and Bach all at once.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Remove the fugue and it would be perfect.


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