Basil Lam

The String Quartets of Beethoven: perhaps the most important single body of classical chamber music in existence. "We do not understand music--it understands us." This aphorism by Theodor W. Adorno expresses that quandary and fascination many listeners have felt in approaching Beethoven's late quartets. No group of compositions occupies a more central position in chamber music, yet the meaning of these works continues to stimulate debate.