When Beethoven was
commissioned by Prince Galitzin in November
of 1822 to compose a new set of string
quartets, he was in the enviable position
of having complete artistic freedom
and the clout to demand any price he
wished. He accepted the commission for
the then whopping fee of fifty ducats
per quartet and promised the first quartet
would be delivered in March of the following
year. The patron would have to wait
far longer, as the completion of the
Ninth Symphony and the Missa Solemnis
took priority. In fact the quartets
were not delivered until 1825. The result,
however was spectacular, and the late
quartets were to become Beethoven’s
crowning achievement; music for the
ages with little or no regard to tradition,
nor with any concern about audience
reaction to these most remarkable, unusual
and heretofore unheard of structures
and sounds.
Central to both of
these works are their slow movements.
Longer in both cases by nearly double
the lengths of their surrounding movements,
Beethoven relies far more on the conveyance
of a specific set of thoughts or ideas
as opposed to any real dependence on
form. This is especially true of the
poignant Convalescent’s Holy Song
of Thanksgiving to the Deity, a
sincere expression of gratitude from
the composer upon his recovery from
a long and painful stomach disorder.
The serenity and sheer beauty of this
single movement is overwhelming, and
to hear this fine performance would
be worth the cost of the entire disc.
The Hagens have been
on the scene for some years now, making
a fairly good sized collection of recordings.
I have found it interesting however
how heavily they rely on the standard
repertoire in their programming, with
sojourns outside the established canon
being fairly rare occurrences. That
aside, these are performances of supreme
dedication and finesse. Given that the
late Beethoven quartets are notorious
for their difficulty, one would never
know it to hear them played by the Hagens.
Intonation and ensemble
are first-rate, as one would come to
expect from such a seasoned group. What
I found to be most refreshing was the
pacing of the works. They are never
allowed to bog down in syrupy romanticism,
even in the sublime Convalescent’s
Thanksgiving, which could easily
give way to self-indulgence. The Hagens
do indulge, however in a bit of extraneous
sniffing and snorting, a habit of which
my extreme distaste is well known. It
is however not enough to detract from
this beautifully paced, flawlessly executed
performance.
A highly commendable release, worth
some pride of place in any collection.
Kevin Sutton
Hagen Quartet (Lukas Hagen and Rainer Schmidt,
violins; Veronika Hagen, viola and Clemens Hagen,
cello) 
