Ensemble consisting of two violins, viola, and cello, or a work written for such an ensemble. Since circa 1775 such works have been perhaps the predominant genre of chamber music. It was principally developed (if not quite invented) by Joseph Haydn, who wrote some 70 quartets between 1757 and 1803. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Béla Bartók, and Dmitry Shostakovich are the preeminent subsequent quartet composers. Works called string quartets have traditionally observed the four-movement design of the sonata and symphony. Like most chamber music genres, quartet music was traditionally intended primarily for the private enjoyment of amateur musicians rather than for public performance.

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The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in 1826 and was the last substantial work he finished. Only the last movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was written later. It was premiered by the Schuppanzigh Quartet in March 1828.

The work is on a smaller scale than his other late quartets. For the third movement, Beethoven used variation techniques, which is uncommon for pieces written in sonata form; he also did this in the second movement of his Quartet Op. 127. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement Beethoven wrote in the manuscript "Muß es sein?" (Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, "Es muß sein!" (It must be!). The whole movement is headed "Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß" (The Difficult Decision).

It is in four movements:

1. Allegretto
2. Vivace
3. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo
4. “Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß:” Grave — Allegro — Grave ma non troppo tratto — Allegro

Notes

External links

• Takacs Quartets program notes with more on the history of the finale of the quartet in particular
• Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet