Beethoven's String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 130: Four Lectures (The Hans Keller Archive)

In 1973, at the invitation of Alexander Goehr, then Professor of Music at Leeds University, Hans Keller gave four lectures on Beethoven's String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 130, illustrated by the Aeolian Quartet. They were in part a response to Joseph Kerman's newly published monograph on The Beethoven Quartets, and in part a demonstration of his "two-dimensional theory" of music, which posits a vital tension between "well-defined expectations" and '"what the composer does instead". These lectures have now been transcribed, and appear in print here for the first time: they form Keller's most substantial examination of a single chamber work. Keller had intended a full-length monograph on the quartet, but never got further than three chapters, of which the second, on "String-quartet Playing", is included here along with related materials (the other chapters largely replicate the lectures). The book comes with a supplementary volume of music examples, including the entire score of Op. 130, and is illustrated with lively string-quartet drawings by Keller's wife, Milein Cosman.Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One: Four Lectures on Beethoven's Op. 130First Lecture (movements 1 and 2)Second Lecture (movements 2, 3 and 4)Third Lecture (movements 5 and 6)Fourth Lecture (analytical conclusions)Part Two: The Op. 130 Book ProjectIntroductionString-quartet Playing ('Chapter II')Part Three: The Op. 130 Programme NotesFor the EBUOther Programme Notes: an Editorial ReportSupplementary Scores (Separate Volume)