Ludwig van Beethoven A Hymn of Thanksgiving

Ludwig van Beethoven A Hymn of Thanksgiving

The String Quartet, Op. 132, written and premiered in 1825, was dedicated to Count Nicolai Glitzin. It is actually the thirteenth quartet to be written by Beethoven but the fifteenth to be published. The first movement has been described as a sort of 'triple exposition' instead of a standard sonata development. Beethoven wrote this quartet after recovering from a serious illness which he had feared was fatal. One finds in Beethoven's sketches that of this rondo was originally meant for an instrumental conclusion to his 9th Symphony, but it was abandoned for the choral ending we are familiar with. Huxley makes extended reference of this quartet in the late chapter of Point Counter.

Beethoven inscribed the transcendent third movement of his Op. 132 String Quartet with the descriptive title, “Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart” (Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode).