The Beethoven string quartet cycle has only been performed in its entirety during the course of a single season by two ensembles in UMS’s 137-year history: the Budapest String Quartet performed all 16 quartets plus the Grosse Fuge over the course of an intense five days in 1965, and the Guarneri String Quartet performed it over six concerts in the 1976-77 season.

During this season, the Takács Quartet will perform the complete cycle in only four venues worldwide, coinciding with the release of a book by Takács first violinist Edward Dusinberre, Beethoven for a Later Age: The Journey of a String Quartet. Dusinberre says, “Playing the works is a thrilling and daunting experience. We feel like tennis players forced out of position, obliged to draw on our physical and mental resources to raise our game. We have rehearsed this music for many years, but performing a Beethoven quartet still inspires an exhilarating sense of danger.” (The Guardian, London)