Happy 249th birthday to Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born on December 16, 1770 (approximately)! Enjoy this performance of Grosse Fuge performed by the Danish String Quartet at our 2015 Mostly Mozart Festival. 🎁 🎂 🎉 | Lincoln Center

Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, was originally composed as the final movement of his String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130. At its 1826 premiere, the fugue’s intensity and complexity stunned critics — one reviewer called it “incomprehensible.” Beethoven, urged by his publisher, eventually replaced it with a lighter finale. Today, the Grosse Fuge is celebrated as one of his greatest achievements. In this 2020 performance from Alice Tully Hall, the Danish String Quartet — Rune Tonsgaard Sørens