Con Brio: Beethoven’s Second Quartet

This F major quartet (Op. 18, No. 1) is probably the most famous and most beloved quartet of the series of six. It is the longest of the set; the first and last movement being longer than any corresponding movement in the opus. The slow movement has the most emotional range of any other slow movement in the series. And the scherzo is the fastest and most harmonically daring.

It’s an exciting work, so let’s look at some examples from the first movement, marked Allegro con brio (lively with vigour).