大象传媒

Stephen Johnson is the guest of the Sowerby Music in Yorkshire for an exploration of one of the pinnacles of the repertory, Beethoven's String Quartet in A minor, Opus 132.

This is one of the so called "late" quartets of Beethoven, written after he had recovered from a debilitating illness. Beethoven used the quartet medium to grapple with some of his deepest feelings and sensibilities and the work is striking for the profundity of its expression and its novel and imaginative use of form. At the heart of the work lies one of the composers' most heart felt slow movements - an expression of an artist's thanks to God after recovering from illness.

Stephen is joined by members of the Wihan Quartet who perform illustrations and a complete performance of the work, and he explores the piece by way of a series of queries and questions from the members of Sowerby Music.