Mitch Friedfeld's comment about "not getting the Grosse Fuge" reminded
me of my own experience with the work [I've related this experience
before on the List, so please excuse the redundency].  I didn't get the
fugue- or much at all of the Beethoven 13th string quartet beyond the
cavatina movement for some years.  And the fugue sounded like a hopeless
muddle to me, perhaps a little like the ravings of a madman (which, I
understand, is what some of Beethoven's contemporaries thought of the
work).  Then, a dozen years ago I heard the Emerson string quartet perform
the work live.  It was a bit like having a bucket of ice-cold water thown
in my face: finally I was able to relate to the fugue in a way that did
not reduce it to a muddle.  I was subsequently able to go back to
recordings, and hear something of the magic I heard in the live performance.

I'm not sure I would ever have been able to develop any appreciation for
the Grosse Fugue had I not heard a live performance.  Hearing the work
live made the individual voices stand out in a way I'd never been able
to hear on recordings [admittedly, I listen on rather plebian equipment].
So my advice to Mitch is to hear the work live.  Should you heed that
advice, please post your reaction to the live performance.

Larry Sherwood

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