Beethoven Rasoumovsky Quartet op. 59 No. 1 - VECTOR QUARTET

VECTOR QUARTET - http://www.VectorQ.ch
Denitza Kucera, violin I · Reiko Koi, violin II · Bernd Haag, viola · Sebastian Diezig, cello
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I. Allegro 0:00
II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 9:34
III. Adagio molto e mesto 17:51
IV. Thème russe: Allegro 29:22
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Ludwig van Beethoven published his String Quartet No. 7 in F major, op. 59, No.1 in 1808 as the first of the three "Rasoumovsky" quartets. It was commissioned by and dedicated to prince Andrey Razumovsky, then the Russian ambassador to Vienna. With a duration of almost forty minutes it is significantly longer than Beethoven's earlier op. 18 quartets. Written in a different style, it marks the beginning of his middle period string quartets.
At the time of composition Beethoven was extremely productive as he was also busy revising his "Leonore" opera, working on the 4th piano concerto, the violin concerto and the "Coriolan" ouverture. In 1805 Andrey Razoumovsky, who played second violin in a string quartet, ordered three string quartets by Beethoven. The compositional work began on May 26, 1806. He finished all three "Rasoumovsky" quartets in November 1806 (op. 59,1 already in July 1806).
While Beethoven wasn't fully independent from noble sponsors like Andrey Rasoumovsky, count Kinsky and count Franz Lobkowitz, his ideals pushed him towards a bourgeois, middle-class audience. The Rasoumovsky quartets seem to underscore this ambition since only professional musicians were up to the job of playing this music (as opposed to being a pastime for noble amateur musicians).
The last movement with the Russian theme is likely a nod to prince Andrey Razumovsky.