String Quartet in A minor, op. 132

Quartetto italiano
Ludwig van BeethovenDecca 2009


"It is good to give thanks to the Lord”; it is wonderful to recognize him! If we listen to Beethoven, just for a minute, we say to ourselves, “How beautiful!” The beauty of recognizing the Lord is of this nature, but deeper, like the taproot that deepens the hardly-hinted appearance of the tree that is being born; much deeper and incomparably more stable – a total form instead of partial and ephemeral forms.
This String Quartet develops a silent, intense, dense, heartfelt and dramatic conversation with the Creator. Thus, in the consciousness that in this moment our person is springing from Being, this music becomes our voice in the personal and intimate dialogue with Him, and at the same time the perception of His reply. Our history is not something that happens of itself; it is not casual, but a dialogue between Him who made our heart – and in every instant calls us to truth, to love, to beauty, to happiness – and the willingness of our heart.

(Excerpt from the introduction by Luigi Giussani to the booklet enclosed in the CD)