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{{Short description|Composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven}}
{{Redirect|Great Fugue|the piece by J. S. Bach|Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox musical composition
|name=''Grosse Fuge''
|type=[[Late string quartets (Beethoven)|Late string quartet]]
|composer={{nowrap|[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]}}
|image=Grosse Fuge Artaria title page.jpg
|image_upright=1.2
|caption=Title page of the first edition of the ''Grosse Fuge'', published in Vienna by Matthias [[Artaria]] in 1827 (in French, with the title ''{{lang|fr|Grande Fugue}}'' and Beethoven's French name "Louis")
|translation=''Great Fugue''
|key=[[B-flat major|B{{music|flat}} major]]
|opus=133
|form=[[Fugue]]
|composed=1825
|dedication=[[Archduke Rudolf of Austria]]
|duration=About 16 minutes
|scoring=[[String quartet]]
|premiere_date=1826
|premiere_performers=[[Schuppanzigh Quartet]]
|misc={{Audio sample
 | header      = Live performance
 | type        = song
 | file        = Merel Quartet Beethoven Grosse Fuge op.133.ogg
 | description = Merel Quartet at [[Tonhalle, Zürich]], 3 July 2013: Mary Ellen Woodside and Julia Schröder, violin; Ylvali Zilliacus, viola; Rafael Rosenfeld, cello}}
}}
The '''''Grosse Fuge''''' ({{langx|de|Große Fuge}}, also known in English as the '''''Great Fugue''''' or '''''Grand Fugue'''''), [[Opus number|Op.]] 133, is a single-movement composition for [[string quartet]] by [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]. An immense [[Fugue#Double (triple, quadruple) fugue|double fugue]], it was universally condemned by contemporary music critics. A reviewer writing for the ''{{lang|de|[[Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung]]}}'' in 1826 described the fugue as "incomprehensible, like Chinese" and "a confusion of Babel".{{sfnp|Solomon|2003|p=35}} However, critical opinion of the work has risen steadily since the early 20th century and it is now considered among Beethoven's greatest achievements. [[Igor Stravinsky]] described it as "an absolutely contemporary piece of music that will be contemporary forever".{{sfnp|Stravinsky|Craft|1963|p=24}}

The ''Grosse Fuge'' was originally composed as the final movement of Beethoven's [[String Quartet No. 13 (Beethoven)|Quartet No. 13 in B{{music|flat}} major]], Op. 130, written in 1825; but Beethoven's publisher was concerned about the dismal commercial prospects of the piece and wanted the composer to replace the fugue with a new finale. Beethoven complied, and the ''Grosse Fuge'' was published as a separate work in 1827 as Op. 133. The work was composed when Beethoven was nearly totally deaf, and is considered to be part of his set of [[Late string quartets (Beethoven)|late quartets]]. The '' Grosse Fuge'' was first performed in 1826, as the finale of the B{{music|flat}} quartet, by the [[Schuppanzigh Quartet]].

Music analysts and critics have described the ''Grosse Fuge'' as "inaccessible",<ref>B. H. Haggin, quoted in [http://www.cmnw.org/programNotes/071512notes.html Chamber Music Northwest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521203403/http://www.cmnw.org/programNotes/071512notes.html |date=21 May 2014 }}</ref> "eccentric",{{sfnp|Kinderman|1995|p=307}} "filled with paradoxes",{{sfnp|Levy|2007|p=130}} and "Armageddon".<ref>[[Arnold Steinhardt]], in {{harvp|Miller|2006|p=40}}</ref> Critic and musicologist [[Joseph Kerman]] calls it "the most problematic single work in Beethoven's output and ... doubtless in the entire literature of music",{{sfnp|Kerman|1979|p=279}} and violinist David Matthews describes it as "fiendishly difficult to play".<ref>{{harvp|Matthews|2006|page=28}}. For a discussion of the technical and musical difficulties of the fugue, see {{slink||Performance challenges}}.</ref>

==Composition history==
Beethoven originally wrote the fugue as the closing movement of his [[String Quartet No. 13 (Beethoven)|String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130]], composed in late 1825. His choice of a fugal form for the final movement was well grounded in tradition: [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], and Beethoven himself had previously written fugues as final movements of quartets. But in recent years, Beethoven had become increasingly concerned with the challenge of integrating this Baroque form into the Classical structure. "In my student days I wrote dozens of [fugues] ... but [imagination] also wishes to exert its privileges ... and a new and really poetic element must be introduced into the traditional form," Beethoven wrote.<ref>[[Alexander Wheelock Thayer|Thayer]]: ''{{lang|de|Ludwig van Beethovens Leben}}''. quoted in {{harvp|Husarik|2012|p=54}}.</ref> The resulting movement was a mammoth work, 741 measures long; the total number of measures in the other movements is 643. The fugue is dedicated to the [[Archduke Rudolf of Austria]], his student and patron.

At the premiere performance of the Op. 130 quartet, the other movements were received enthusiastically, but the fugue was not a success. Many musicians and critics in Vienna's music periodicals denounced the fugue.{{sfnp|Solomon|2003|p=35}} Composer and violinist [[Louis Spohr]] called it, and the other late quartets, "an indecipherable, uncorrected horror".{{sfnp|Service|2008}}

[[File:Holz karl.jpg|thumb|Karl Holz, violinist and confidant of Beethoven in his last years. Holz was second violinist in the Schuppanzigh String Quartet, which debuted the ''Grosse Fuge''. Holz was given the task of convincing Beethoven to publish the fugue independently of the quartet, Op. 130.]]Despite the contemporary criticism, Beethoven himself never doubted the value of the fugue. [[Karl Holz (violinist)|Karl Holz]], Beethoven's secretary, confidant and second violinist of the [[Schuppanzigh Quartet]] that first performed the work, brought Beethoven the news that the audience had demanded encores of two middle movements. Beethoven, enraged, was reported to have growled, "And why didn't they encore the Fugue? That alone should have been repeated! Cattle! Asses!"{{sfnp|Solomon|1980|p=447}}

However, the fugue was so roundly condemned by critics and audience alike that Beethoven's publisher, Matthias [[Artaria]] (1793–1835), decided to try to convince Beethoven to publish it separately. Artaria tasked Holz with persuading Beethoven to separate the fugue from the rest of the quartet. Holz wrote:

<blockquote>
Artaria ... charged me with the terrible and difficult task of convincing Beethoven to compose a new finale, which would be more accessible to the listeners as well as the instrumentalists, to substitute for the fugue which was so difficult to understand. I maintained to Beethoven that this fugue, which departed from the ordinary and surpassed even the last quartets in originality, should be published as a separate work and that it merited a designation as a separate opus. I communicated to him that Artaria was disposed to pay him a supplementary honorarium for the new finale. Beethoven told me he would reflect on it, but already on the next day I received a letter giving his agreement.<ref>[[Alexander Wheelock Thayer|Thayer]]: ''{{lang|de|Ludwig van Beethovens Leben}}'', quoted in {{harvp|Solomon|1980|p=449}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Why the notoriously stubborn Beethoven readily agreed to replace the fugue is unclear: some historians have speculated he did it for the money, as Beethoven perennially struggled to manage his personal finances and often lacked money. Others suggest he did it to satisfy his critics or because he believed the fugue stood best on its own.<ref>For the differing opinions on this, see {{harvp|Solomon|1980|p=449}}, {{harvp|Marliave|1961|p=257}}, {{harvp|Winter|Martin|1994|p=239}}.</ref> The fugue is connected to the other movements of Op. 130 by various hints of motifs, and by a tonal link to the preceding ''[[Cavatina]]'' movement (the Cavatina ends on a G, and the fugue begins with the same G).{{sfnp|Bitloch|2012|loc={{time needed|date=September 2023}}}} The lively final movement which replaced the fugue is in the form of a [[Contra dance|contredanse]] and is completely uncontroversial. Beethoven composed this replacement finale while staying at the estate of his brother [[Nikolaus Johann van Beethoven|Johann]] in [[Gneixendorf]] during the late autumn of 1826, and it is the last complete piece of music he was to write. In May 1827, about two months after Beethoven's death, Matthias Artaria published the first edition of Op. 130 with the new finale, the ''Grosse Fuge'' separately (under the French title ''Grande Fugue'') as Op. 133, and Beethoven's [[Piano four hands|four-hand piano]] arrangement of the fugue as Op. 134.{{sfnp|Lockwood|2005|pp=459–461}}

==General analysis==
Dozens of analyses have attempted to delve into the structure of the ''Grosse Fuge'', with conflicting results.  The work has been described as an expansion of the formal Baroque grand fugue,{{sfnp|Kirkendale|1963}} as a multi-movement work rolled into a single piece,<ref>{{harvp|Rosen|1971}}, {{harvp|Levy|2007}}</ref> and as a symphonic poem in [[sonata form]].{{sfnp|Radcliffe|1978|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}} Stephen Husarik has suggested that the relationships between the keys of the different sections of the fugue mirror what he describes as the wedge-like structure of the eight-note motif that is the main fugal subject, the "contour [that] is a driving force behind the Grosse Fuge".{{sfnp|Husarik|2012}} But Leah Gayle Weinberg writes: "The Grosse Fuge has been and continues to be a problematic subject of scholarly discussion for many reasons; the most basic is that its very form defies categorization."<ref>{{cite book |title=Beethoven's Janus-faced Quartet: Opus 130, the Groβe Fuge and the Allegro |last=Weinberg |first=Leah |publisher=Wesleyan University |year=2008 |page=26}}</ref>

Beethoven himself subtitled the fugue {{lang|fr|tantôt libre, tantôt recherchée}} 'sometimes free, sometimes learned'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Alfred |title=The Study of Fugue |date=1987 |publisher=Dover |isbn=978-0-486-25439-5 |edition=Repr. |location=New York |page=8 |orig-date=1965}}</ref> Some sections of the work follow the strict formal structure of Baroque grand fugues, while others are more freely constructed. Regardless of how closely Beethoven follows Baroque tradition, the use of contrapuntal techniques is ubiquitous throughout the work.

===Main motif===
The central [[Motif (music)|motif]] of the fugue is an eight-note [[Subject (music)|subject]] that climbs chromatically upward:

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Grosse Fuge First theme.ogg">
{
    \relative c'' {
        \time 6/8 \key bes \major
        g2. gis f' e gis, a fis' g
    }
}
</score>

A similar motif appears in act 2, measures 44–47, of the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck's]] opera ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'' (1774), and also in [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]]'s [[String Quartets, Op. 33 (Haydn)#Opus 33 No. 5|String Quartet in G, Op. 33, No. 5]]. ii, mm. 27–29.{{sfnp|Husarik|2016|p=255}} Another similar subject, with [[Syncopation|syncopated]] or gapped rhythm (called ''[[Unterbrechung]]'' in German), appears in a treatise on counterpoint by [[Johann Georg Albrechtsberger]],{{sfnp|Kirkendale|1963|p=18}} who taught Beethoven composition. [[Joseph Kerman]] suggests that Beethoven modeled the motif after [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach's]] fugue in B minor from ''[[The Well-Tempered Clavier]]''.{{sfnp|Kerman|2008|p=167}} Its subject is shown below:

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Subject of the Fugue in B minor BWV 869 from the Well-tempered Clavier by Bach.ogg">
{
    \relative c' {
        \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 96
        \time 4/4 \key b \minor
        r8 fis( d b) g'( fis) b( ais)
        e( dis) c'( b) fis( eis) d'( cis!) bis(
        cis( a fis) gis2\trill
    }
}
</score>

Whatever the origin of the motif, Beethoven was fascinated by it. He used it, or fragments of it, in a number of places in the late quartets, most notably in the first movement of his [[String Quartet No. 15 (Beethoven)|Op. 132 string quartet]]. The opening is shown below:

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Opus 132 opening.ogg">
{ 
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \tempo "Assai sostenuto"
            \relative c' {
                \clef treble \key a \minor \time 2/2
                R1
                R
                dis2(\pp e
                c'\< b\>)
                gis'(\pp a
                b c)
                c\<( b\>)
                dis,(\pp e4_\markup { \italic cresc. } f) \bar "||"
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key a \minor \time 2/2
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                R1
                r2 b(\pp
                a gis)
                <a fis'>\<( gis'\>)
                d(\pp c
                f! <e c'>)
                a\<( gis\>)
                f4(\pp fis gis_\markup { \italic cresc. } <d d'>)
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key a \minor \time 2/2
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                R1
                a2(\pp gis)
                c( b
                dis,\< e)\>
                b''(\pp c)
                d,( c)
                fis,(\< gis)\>
                a(\pp gis4)_\markup { \italic cresc. } <gis b>
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key a \minor \time 2/2
            \new Voice \relative c {
                gis2\pp( a
                f' e)
                R1
                R1
                f2(\pp e
                gis, a)
                dis,\<( e\>
                c')\pp b4_\markup { \italic cresc. } b
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>

In the course of the ''Grosse Fuge'', Beethoven plays this motif in every possible variation: ''fortissimo'' and ''pianissimo'', in different rhythms, [[Melodic inversion|upside down]] and [[Retrograde (music)|backwards]]. The usual practice in a traditional fugue is to make a simple, unadorned statement of the subject at the outset, but Beethoven from the very beginning presents the subject in a host of variations.

=== Other motifs ===
In stark contrast to this simple chromatic motif is the second subject of the fugue, which leaps dramatically in huge intervals – tenths and twelfths:

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Grosse Fuge Second theme.ogg">
{
    \relative c' {
        \set Score.currentBarNumber = #31
        \time 4/4 \key bes \major
        \partial2 r8. d16\ff f'8[ r16 f]
        f8[ r16 d,] f'8[ r16 f] f8[ r16 d,] aes''8[ r16 aes]
        aes8[ r16 g] g8[ r16 f] f8[ r16 es] es8[ r16 d]
        es8[ r16 es,] es'8[ r16 es] es8[ r16 es,] g'8[ r16 g]
        g8[ r16 f] f8[ r16 es] es8[ r16 d] d8
    }
}
</score>

The third motif is a lilting melody that serves as the theme of the ''andante'' section of the fugue:

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Grosse Fuge Third theme.ogg">
{
    \relative c'' {
        \set Score.currentBarNumber = #167
        \time 2/4 \key ges \major
        \bar ""

        r8 bes16(_\markup { \italic sempre \dynamic pp } aes) aes( ges des' ces)
        ces( bes es des) des( ces des bes)
        des( ces es des) des( ces des bes)
        bes( aes ges f es des es ces)
        bes8
    }
}
</score>

A fourth element – not so much a motif as an effect – is the [[Trill (music)|trill]]. Beethoven also uses trills extensively, simultaneously creating a sense of disintegration of the motifs, leading to a climax.

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Grosse Fuge trills.ogg">
{ 
#(set-global-staff-size 19)
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Score.currentBarNumber = #700
            \clef treble \key bes \major \time 6/8
            \bar ""
            \relative c''' {
                \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4
                a!2.~ a4.(\< bes4)\! r8
                \mark #13
                r4. f4.~\<\startTrillSpan f4( e16\stopTrillSpan f) d4\! r8
                r4. a'~\< a( bes4)\! r8
                r4. f4.~\<\startTrillSpan f4( e16\stopTrillSpan f) d4\! r8
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key bes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                f4.( es) c'!\<( bes4\!) r8
                r4. c,~\<\startTrillSpan c4( bes16\stopTrillSpan c) d4\! r8
                r4. c'~\< c( bes4\!) r8
                r4. c,~\<\startTrillSpan c4( bes16\stopTrillSpan c) d4\! r8
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key bes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c {
                f4.( c') es(\< d4)\! r8
                r4. a!~\<\startTrillSpan a4( g!16\stopTrillSpan a) bes4\! r8
                r4. es~\< es( d4)\! r8
                r4. a~\<\startTrillSpan a4( g16\stopTrillSpan a) bes4\! r8
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key bes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c, {
                f2.~\startTrillSpan f4(\< e16\stopTrillSpan f) bes4\! r8
                R2. R
                r4. f~\<\startTrillSpan f4( e16\stopTrillSpan f) bes4\! r8
                R2. R
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>

== Form ==

===Overtura===
The fugue opens with a 24-bar [[overture]],<ref>This analysis is based on the analysis by [[Vincent d'Indy]], as transcribed by {{harvp|Marliave|1961|pp=293–295}}. The d'Indy analysis is considered the classic analysis.</ref> which starts with a dramatic ''fortissimo'' unison G, and statement of the main fugal subject in the key of G major:<ref>Musical examples are from the recording of the Fugue by the Merel Quartet (Mary Ellen Woodside and Julia Schröder, violins; Ylvali Zilliacus, viola; Rafael Rosenfeld, cello), live in performance at [[Tonhalle, Zürich]], 3 July 2013.</ref>

:<score lang="lilypond" override_ogg="Grosse Fuge Opening.ogg">
{ 
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \tempo Allegro
            \relative c' {
                \clef treble \key g \major \time 6/8
                \grace { g16 g' } g'2.~\f
                g4.\fermata g,4.~\ff
                g2.~
                g
                gis\sf
                f'\sf
                e\sf
                gis,\sf
                a4 r8 fis'!4 r8
                \afterGrace g!4\trill { fis16 g } r8 r4.\fermata
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c' {
                \clef treble \key g \major
                \grace { s16 s } <g g'>2.~\f
                <g g'>4.\fermata g4.~\ff
                g2.~
                g
                gis\sf
                f'\sf
                e\sf
                gis,\sf
                a4 r8 fis'!4 r8
                \afterGrace g!4\trill { fis16 g } r8 r4.\fermata
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c' {
                \clef alto \key g \major
                \grace { s16 s } <g g'>2.~\f
                <g g'>4.\fermata g4.~\ff
                g2.~
                g
                gis\sf
                f'\sf
                e\sf
                gis,\sf
                a4 r8 fis'!4 r8
                \afterGrace g!4\trill { fis16 g } r8 r4.\fermata
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \relative c {
                \clef bass \key g \major
                \grace { s16 s } <g g'>2.~\f
                <g g'>4.\fermata g4.~\ff
                g2.~
                g
                gis\sf
                f'\sf
                e\sf
                gis,\sf
                a4 r8 fis'!4 r8
                \afterGrace g!4\trill { fis16 g } r8 r4.\fermata
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>

[[File:Grosse Fuge Opening 2.ogg|thumb|Second statement of motif]]
This statement of the subject disintegrates into a trill, and silence. Beethoven then repeats the subject, but in a completely different rhythm, in [[diminution]] (meaning at double the tempo), twice, climbing up the scale; and then, again silence, and again the subject, this time unadorned, in a dramatic drop to ''pianissimo'' in the key of F major.

[[File:Grosse Fuge Opening third theme.ogg|thumb|Third motif introduced]]
This leads to a statement of the third fugal subject, with the first subject in the bass:

Thus, Beethoven, in this brief introduction, presents not only the material that will make up the entire piece but also the spirit: violent shifts of mood, melodies disintegrating into chaos, dramatic silences, instability, and struggle.

===First fugue===
Following the overture is a strictly formal [[double fugue]] in the key of B{{music|flat}} major that follows all the rules of a Baroque fugue: an [[Exposition (music)|exposition]] and three variations, showcasing different [[Counterpoint|contrapuntal]] devices. But this is anything but a tame Baroque fugue: it is violent and dissonant, pitting awkward leaps of the second subject in iambic rhythm against the main subject in syncopation, at a constant dynamic that never falls below ''forte''. The resulting angular rhythmic confusion and displaced dissonances last almost five minutes.

[[File:Grosse Fuge Opening First theme again.ogg|thumb|Syncopated statement of motif]]
First, Beethoven restates the main subject, broken up by rests between each note.

[[File:GF First Fugue expo.ogg|thumb|First fugue, exposition]]
Then begins a double fugue, two subjects, played one against the other. The second subject in the first violin, and the first subject, [[Syncopation|syncopated]], in the viola. Then the second violin and cello take up the same thing.

[[File:GF First Fugue first variation.ogg|thumb|First fugue, first variation]]
The first variation, following the rules of fugue, opens in the subdominant key of E{{flat}}. Beethoven adds to the chaos with a triplet figure in the first violin, played against the quaternary rhythm of the second subject in the second violin and the syncopated main subject in the viola.

The second variation, back in the key of B{{flat}}, is a ''[[stretto]]'' section, meaning that the fugal voices enter one right after the other. To this, Beethoven adds a [[countersubject]] in [[Dactyl (poetry)|dactylic]] rhythm (shown in red below).

:<score lang="lilypond">
{
#(set-global-staff-size 16)
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Score.currentBarNumber = #109
            \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4
            \bar ""
            \relative c''' {
                \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4
                \mark #3
                d4 r r2
                r8. g,,16 bes8[ r16 bes] aes8 r a
                r bes, bes'~\ff bes r r bes~\f bes r
                r b~\f b r r g'~\f g r
                r8
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key bes \major \time 4/4
            \new Voice \relative c'' {
                d4 r r8. g,,16 bes8[ r16 bes]
                a8[ r16 bes] d8[ r16 d] ces8 r c r
                \override NoteHead.color = #red bes f''16( es d8-.) d16( c bes8-.) aes'16( g f8-.) es16( d
                c8-.) d16( es d8-.) es16( f g8-.) r16 c,, es'8[ r16 es]
                es8
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key bes \major \time 4/4
            \new Voice \relative c {
                d8 r16 d' f8[ r16 f] es!8 r e r
                f8 r16 f, f8[ r16 e] f8 r es8 r
                d4 r r2
                r2 r8 aes''16( g f8-.) es16( d
                c-.)
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key bes \major \time 4/4
            \new Voice \relative c {
                d4 r r2
                r2 \clef tenor r8. d16 f'8[ r16 f]
                f8[ r16 d,] f'8[ r16 f] f8[ r16 d,] aes''8[ r16 aes]
                g8[ r16 g] g8[ r16 f] es8[ f16( es] d8-.) c16( b
                c8-.)
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>
:[[File:FG First Fugue Second Variation.ogg]]

[[File:FG First Fugue Third Variation.ogg|thumb|First fugue, third variation]]
In the third variation, Beethoven presents a variation of the second subject in the triplet rhythm of the countersubject of the first variation, with the main subject syncopated in eighth notes, in diminution (that is, the subject is played at twice the speed).

This last variation grows increasingly chaotic, with triplets breaking out in the inner voices, until it ultimately collapses – each instrument finishing on a different part of the measure and ending inconclusively on a final [[fermata]], leading to the next section in the key of G{{flat}}.

===Meno mosso e moderato===
[[File:Grosse fuge Fugato opening.ogg|thumb|Opening of ''fugato'' section]]
This section ("slower and at a moderate pace") is a complete change of character from the formal fugue that preceded it and the one that follows it. It is a ''[[Fugue|fugato]]'', a section that combines contrapuntal writing with [[homophony]]. "After the strenuousness of the B{{flat}} Fugue [first section], the effect is of an almost blinding innocence," writes [[Joseph Kerman]].{{sfnp|Kerman|1979|p=287}} Analysts who see the fugue as a multi-movement work rolled into one view this as the traditional ''Andante'' movement.<ref>See, for example, {{harvp|Kinderman|1995}} or {{harvp|Kirkendale|1963}}.</ref> It opens with a statement of the third subject, against a [[pedal tone]] in the viola, and continues with the third subject in the second violin, against the main subject ''[[cantus firmus]]'' in the viola.

The counterpoint becomes more complex, with the cello and first violin playing the main subject in [[Canon (music)|canon]] while the second violin and viola pass the third subject between them.

:<score lang="lilypond">
{
#(set-global-staff-size 14)
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Score.currentBarNumber = #193
            \bar ""
            \relative c'' {
                \clef treble \key ges \major \time 2/4
                f16( es f ges aes8) r r4 \override NoteHead.color = #red d,(
                es ces'!
                bes es,
                e des'!
                c e,
                f) \override NoteHead.color = #black des'16( c des bes)
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key ges \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                f16( ges f es) es( des aes' ges)
                ges( f ces' bes) aes( ges aes f)
                aes( ges f es) f8 r bes, r bes'16( a bes g)
                bes( g f e) g8 r
                c r des16( c des bes)
                bes( a g f) bes( a bes g)
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key ges \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c {
                des'16( bes aes ges) ges( f f' es)
                aes,8 r r4
                r aes16( ges aes f) aes( ges f es) g8 r
                g' r bes,16( a bes g) bes( a g f) bes( a bes g)
                g( c bes a) e4(
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key ges \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c, {
                r4 \override NoteHead.color = #red des(
                d ces'!
                bes d,
                es des'!
                c e,
                f2)
                \override NoteHead.color = #black f2(
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>
:[[File:Grosse fuge Fugato development.ogg]]

Despite the growing complexity of the fugal writing, Beethoven instructs the players ''sempre piano'' – always quiet. [[Leonard Ratner]] writes of this section, "[This] comes as a wonderful change of color, offered with the silkiest of textures, and with exquisite moments of glowing [[Diatonic and chromatic|diatonism]]."{{sfnp|Ratner|1995|p=288}}

[[File:Grosse fuge Fugato end.ogg|thumb|Conclusion of ''fugato'' section]]
The polyphony gradually dissipates into homophony, and from there into unison, finally tapering into a dying, measured sixteenth-note [[tremolo]], when the next section bursts out in the key of B{{flat}}.

===Interlude and second fugue===
[[File:Grosse Fuge Interlude.ogg|thumb|Interlude before second fugue]]
Beethoven shifts gears: from G{{flat}} to B{{flat}}, from {{Music|time|2|4}} to {{Music|time|6|8}}, from ''pianissimo'' to ''fortissimo''. The ''fortissimo'' descends immediately to ''piano'', for a short interlude before the second fugue. This interlude is based on the main subject in diminution, meaning in double time. On top of this, Beethoven adds a lilting, slightly comic melody; analysts who see the fugue as a multi-movement work consider this section the equivalent of a ''[[scherzo]]''.<ref>See {{harvp|Kinderman|1995}} or {{harvp|Kirkendale|1963}}.</ref>

In this interlude, Beethoven introduces the use of [[Trill (music)|trill]] (hinted at, at the end of the ''Meno mosso'' section). The music grows in intensity and shifts into A{{flat}} major, for a new learned fugue.

In this fugue, Beethoven puts together three versions of the main subject: (1) the subject in its simple form, but in [[Augmentation (music)|augmentation]] (meaning half the speed); (2) the same subject, abbreviated, in [[Retrograde (music)|retrograde]] (that is, played backwards); and (3) a variation of the first half of the subject in [[diminution]] (that is, double time). Together, they sound like this:

:<score lang="lilypond">
{
#(set-global-staff-size 17)
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Score.currentBarNumber = #280
            \bar ""
            \relative c''' {
                \clef treble \key aes \major \time 6/8
                R2. R2.
                r8 r c(\f^\markup "(2) Retrograde" bes4 des,8)
                r8 r aes'( g4 bes,8)
                r8 r f'( e4 g,8)
                r8 r g'( f4 aes,8)
                r8 r aes'( g4 bes,8)
                r8 r bes'( aes4 bes,8)
                r8 r bes'( fes4 es8)
                \override NoteHead.color = #grey \override Stem.color = #grey es4 r8 r4.
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key aes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                \override NoteHead.color = #grey \override Stem.color = #grey es4 des'8( c4 f,8)
                g4 r8 \override NoteHead.color = #black \override Stem.color = #black a,4.(^\markup \whiteout "(3) Diminution"
                bes4. g'4) r8
                r4. a(
                bes g')
                r aes,,(
                c g'4) r8
                r4. f
                g4.~ g4 aes8~\ff
                aes2.
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key aes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                r4. es4.~\ff^\markup \whiteout "(1) Augmentation"
                es2.~
                es
                e\sf
                des'\sf
                c\sf
                e,\sf
                f4-._\markup { \italic \whiteout \tiny "ben marcato" } r8 d'4-. r8
                \afterGrace des2.\sf\trill { c16 des }
                c4 r8 \override NoteHead.color = #grey \override Stem.color = #grey b,4.
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key aes \major \time 6/8
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                \override NoteHead.color = #grey \override Stem.color = #grey \afterGrace aes2.\sf\trill { g16 aes }
                g4 r8 r4.
                R2. R R R R R R R
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>
:[[File:Grosse Fuge Second Fuge exposition.ogg]]

Here Beethoven starts to use trills intensely. This adds to the extremely dense texture and rhythmic complexity. Kerman writes of this fugal section, "The piece seems to be in danger of cracking under the tension of its own rhythmic fury."{{sfnp|Kerman|1979|p=283}}

[[File:Grosse Fuge Second Fuge variation 1.ogg|thumb|Second fugue, first variation]]
In the second episode of this fugue, Beethoven adds in the triplet figure from the first variation of the first fugue:

[[File:Grosse Fuge Second Fuge variation 2.ogg|thumb|Second fugue, second variation]]
The trills become more intense. In the third episode, in the dominant key of E{{flat}} major, Beethoven uses a leaping motif that recalls the second subject of the first fugue:

[[File:Grosse Fuge Second Fuge variation 3.ogg|thumb|Second fugue, third variation]]
The fourth episode returns to the key of A{{flat}}. The cello plays the main subject in a way that harks back to the ''overtura''. More elements of the first fugue return: the syncopation used for the main subject, the tenth leaps from the second subject, the diminuted main subject in the viola.

===Thematic convergence and coda===
This leads back to a restatement of the ''meno mosso e moderato'' section. This time, though, instead of a silky ''pianissimo'', the [[Fugue|''fugato'']] is played ''forte'', heavily accented (Beethoven writes {{serif|'''''f'''''}} on every sixteenth-note group), march-like. Analysts who see the fugue as a variation of [[Sonata form|sonata-allegro]] form consider this to be part of the [[Recapitulation (music)|recapitulation]] section. In this section, Beethoven uses another complex contrapuntal device: the second violin plays the theme, the first violin plays the main subject in a high register, and the viola plays the main subject in [[Melodic inversion|inversion]] – that is, upside down.{{sfnp|Kirkendale|1963|p=21}}

:<score lang="lilypond">
{ 
#(set-global-staff-size 16)
<< \new StaffGroup <<
        \new Staff <<
            \set Score.currentBarNumber = #493
            \bar ""
            \tempo "Meno Mosso e moderato"
            \relative c'' {
                \clef treble \key aes \major \time 2/4
                r4 d\sf
                es\sf des'!\sf
                c\f g\f
                aes\f ges'\f
                f\f a,\f
                bes\f aes'!\f
                g\f
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef treble \key aes \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c'' {
                bes16( aes c bes) bes( aes bes' aes)
                aes(\sf g c bes) bes(\sf aes g f)
                f(\f es aes c,) f(\f es f des)
                des(\f c bes aes) aes(\f ges f es)
                es(\f des c des) ges'(\f f ges es)
                es(\f des c bes aes\f g! aes f)
                f(\f es d! es)
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef alto \key aes \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                <c es>8\f r f4\sf
                es\sf g,\sf
                aes\f bes\f
                aes\f c,\f
                des\f c'\f
                bes\f d,!\f
                es\f
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \clef bass \key aes \major \time 2/4
            \new Voice \relative c {
                aes8\f r r4
                r16 aes aes'' aes aes aes,, aes'' aes
                aes8 r r4
                r16 c,,, es' es es c, es' es
                des,8 r r4
                r16 des f' f f d, f' f
                es,8 r
                }
         >>
    >>
>> }
</score>
:[[File:Grosse Fuge recap 1.ogg]]

[[File:Grosse Fuge recap 2.ogg|thumb|Recapitulation of ''scherzo'' section]]
A series of trills leads back to the home key of B{{flat}}, and a restatement of the ''scherzo'' section.

[[File:Grosse Fuge recap 3.ogg|thumb|Fragments of preceding sections, before the coda]]
There follows a section that analysts have described as "uneasy hesitation"{{sfnp|d'Indy|1929|p=104}} or "puzzling" and "diffused".{{sfnp|Winter|Martin|1994|pp=243–244}} Fragments of the various subjects appear and disappear, and the music seems to lose energy. A silence, and then a fragmentary burst of the opening of the first fugue. Another silence. A snippet of the ''meno mosso''. Another silence. And then a ''fortissimo'' restatement of the very opening of the piece, leading to the coda.<ref>Most analysts consider this unison the beginning of the coda, though Beethoven himself, in the autograph copy, writes "Coda" at bar 493 (key change to B{{flat}}).</ref>

[[File:Grosse Fuge recap 4.ogg|thumb|Finale]]
From here the music moves forward, at first haltingly, but then with more and more energy, to the final passage, where the first subject is played in triplets below the soaring violin line playing a variant of the second subject.

{{Clear}}

== Understanding the ''Grosse Fuge'' ==
[[File:Beethoven am Totenbett Litho.JPG|thumb|upright|Lithograph of Beethoven on his deathbed, by [[Josef Danhauser]]]]Analyses of the ''Grosse Fuge'' help to understand the structure and contrapuntal devices of the piece. Musicologist [[David Benjamin Levy]] writes, "Regardless of how one hears the piece structurally, the composition remains filled with paradoxes that leave the listener ultimately dissatisfied with an exegesis derived solely from a structural perspective."{{sfnp|Levy|2007}} Since its composition, musicians, critics and listeners have tried to explain the tremendous impact this piece has.<ref>For a summary of attempts at understanding the fugue, see {{harvp|Kirkendale|1963|pp=14–18}}.</ref>

"[It] is one of the great artistic testaments to the human capacity for meaning in the face of the threat of chaos. Abiding faith in the relevance of visionary struggle in our lives powerfully informs the structure and character of the music," writes Mark Steinberg, violinist of the [[Brentano String Quartet]]. "More than anything else in music ... it justifies the ways of God to men," writes musicologist [[Leonard Ratner]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Ratner|1995}}. Ratner attributes this quote to J. W. N. Sullivan's book ''Beethoven: His Spiritual Development'' (1927); however, the quote (a paraphrase from John Milton's ''Paradise Lost'') does not appear in Sullivan.</ref>

But beyond a recognition of the hugeness and almost mystical impact of the music, critics fail to agree on its character.<ref>For a review of the divergent opinions on the fugue, see also {{harvp|Kirkendale|1963|pp=14–18}}.</ref> Robert S. Kahn says "it presents a titanic struggle overcome."{{sfnp|Kahn|2010}} Daniel Chua, on the contrary, writes, "The work speaks of failure, the very opposite of the triumphant synthesis associated with Beethovenian recapitulations."{{sfnp|Chua|1995|p=240}} Stephen Husarik, in his essay "Musical direction and the wedge in Beethoven's high comedy, Grosse Fuge op. 133", contends that in the fugue, Beethoven is actually writing a parody of Baroque formalism. "The B{{flat}} Fuga of op.&nbsp;133 stumbles forward in what is probably the most relentless and humorous assertion of modal rhythms since 12th century Notre Dame organum."{{sfnp|Husarik|2012|p=58}} Kahn disagrees: "... the comparison to comic music is surprising. There is nothing comic about the Grosse Fuge ..."{{sfnp|Kahn|2010}}

In many discussions of the piece, the issue of struggle is central. Sara Bitloch, violinist of the Elias String Quartet, says this sense of struggle informs her group's interpretation of the fugue. "Every part has to feel like it's a huge struggle&nbsp;... You need to finish the Grosse Fuge absolutely exhausted."{{sfnp|Bitloch|2012|loc={{time needed|date=September 2023}}}} She calls the piece "apocalyptic". [[Arnold Steinhardt]] of the [[Guarneri String Quartet]] calls it "Armageddon ... the chaos out of which life itself evolved".<ref>[[Arnold Steinhardt]], in {{harvp|Miller|2006|p=40}}</ref>

One way to express the impact of the fugue is through poetry. In her poem "Little Fugue", [[Sylvia Plath]] associates the fugue with death, in a melange of hazy associations with the yew tree (a symbol of death in Celtic Britain), the Holocaust, and the death of her own father:<ref>[[Sylvia Plath]], ''Collected Poems'' (1981) Turtleback Books</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>
He could hear Beethoven:
Black yew, white cloud,
The horrific complications.
Finger-traps—a tumult of keys.

Empty and silly as plates,
So the blind smile.
I envy big noises,
The yew hedge of the Grosse Fuge.
Deafness is something else.
Such a dark funnel, my father!
I see your voice
Black and leafy, as in my childhood.</poem>
|author=Sylvia Plath, from the poem "Little Fugue" (1965)
}}

The poet [[Mark Doty]] wrote of his feelings on listening to the ''Grosse Fuge'':<ref>Mark Doty, "Grosse Fuge" in ''Atlantis'' (1995) Harper Perennial, {{ISBN|0-06-095106-0}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>
What does it mean, chaos
gathered into a sudden bronze sweetness,
an October flourish, and then that moment
denied, turned acid, disassembling,
questioned, rephrased?</poem>
|author=Mark Doty, from the poem "Grosse Fuge" (1995)
}}

==Reception and musical influence==
{{Listen|type=music
 | filename     = Lener String Quartet “Grosse Fuge” (Beethoven) all.ogg
 | title        = 1919 recording
 | description  = First published recording, performed by the [[Léner Quartet]]. Jenö Léner and Joszef Smilovits (violins), Sándor Roth (viola), and Imre Hartmann (cello).
 | filename2     = A. Schnittke - String Quartet no.3 - Canto Quartet.ogg
 | title2        = Alfred Schnittke's String Quartet No. 3
 | description2  = This quartet quotes the main subject of the Grosse Fuge. Canto String Quartet: Eduardo Canto Arce and Guillem Cabre Salagre (violins), Marton Vineter (viola), and Teodora Nedyalkova (cello).
}}

After the first performance in 1826 by the Schuppanzigh Quartet as the original finale to the op. 130 quartet, the fugue is not known to have been publicly performed again until 1853 in Paris by the Maurin Quartet.{{sfnp|Winter|Martin|1994|p=239}} A century after its publication, the fugue still had not entered the standard quartet repertoire. "The attitude of mind in which most people listen to chamber music must undergo a radical change" to understand this piece, wrote [[Joseph de Marliave]] in 1928.{{sfnp|Marliave|1961|p=220}} "This fugue is one of the two works by Beethoven—the other being the fugue from the [[Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven)|piano sonata, Op. 106]]—which should be excluded from performance." As late as 1947, [[Daniel Gregory Mason]] called the fugue "repellent".{{sfnp|Kerman|1979|p=294}}

By the 1920s, some string quartets were beginning to include the fugue in their programs.{{sfnp|Winter|Martin|1994|p=239}} Since then, the fugue has steadily gained admiration and greatness in the eyes of musicians, performers and audiences. "The Great Fugue ... now seems to me the most perfect miracle in music," said [[Igor Stravinsky]].{{sfnp|Kirkendale|1963|p=14.}} "It is also the most absolutely contemporary piece of music I know, and contemporary forever ... Hardly birthmarked by its age, the Great Fugue is, in rhythm alone, more subtle than any music of my own century ... I love it beyond everything." Pianist [[Glenn Gould]] said, "For me, the 'Grosse Fuge' is not only the greatest work Beethoven ever wrote but just about the most astonishing piece in musical literature."{{sfnp|Page|1990|p=459}}

Some analysts and musicians see the fugue as a pioneering assault on the [[diatonic]] tonal system that prevailed in Classical music. Robert Kahn sees the main subject of the fugue as a precursor of the [[tone row]],{{sfnp|Kahn|2010|p=155}} the basis of the [[twelve-tone technique|twelve-tone system]] developed by [[Arnold Schoenberg]]. "Your cradle was Beethoven's Grosse Fuge," artist [[Oskar Kokoschka]] wrote to Schoenberg in a letter.{{sfnp|Brand|Hailey|1997|p=3}} Composer [[Alfred Schnittke]] quotes the subject in his third string quartet (1983). [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]] uses music from the ''Grosse Fuge'' (along with music from some of Beethoven's other [[Late string quartets (Beethoven)|late quartets]]) in his 2012 composition, ''[[Absolute Jest]].'' There have also been numerous orchestral arrangements of the fugue, including by conductors [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] and [[Felix Weingartner]].

==Performance challenges==
Performers approaching the ''Grosse Fuge'' face a host of technical and musical challenges. Among the technical difficulties of the piece are difficult passagework, complex [[Cross-beat|cross-rhythms]] that require exact synchronization, and problems of intonation, where the harmonies pass from dissonance to resolution.<ref>For a description of some of the technical difficulties of the piece, see {{harvp|Anon.|2006}}, or {{harvp|Blum|1987|pp=71, 73}}.</ref>

Beyond the technical difficulties, there are many interpretive issues to resolve.<ref>For a discussion of some of the musical issues posed by the fugue, see {{harvp|Blum|1987|pp=22, 59, 70, 71, 73, 158, 159, 164–165, 172, and 222}}.</ref> One of these is whether the fugue should be played as the finale of Op. 130, as originally written, or as a separate piece.<ref>For further discussion of this see {{harvp|Solomon|1980|p=448}}, {{harvp|Blum|1987|p=159}}, Griffiths (1983), p. 106.{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2023}}</ref> Playing the fugue as the final movement of Op. 130, rather than the light, Haydnesque replacement movement, completely changes the character of the quartet, analysts Robert Winter and Robert Martin note.<ref>{{harvp|Winter|Martin|1994|p=238}}{{snd}}the word "Haydnesque" is theirs.</ref> Played with the new finale, the preceding movement, the "Cavatina", a heartfelt and intense aria, is the emotional center of the piece. Played with the fugue as the finale, the Cavatina is a prelude to the massive and compelling fugue. On the other hand, the fugue stands alone well. "Current taste is decisively in favor of the fugal finale," conclude Winter and Martin.{{sfnp|Winter|Martin|1994|p=238}} A number of quartets have recorded Op. 130 with the fugue and the replacement finale on separate disks.

A second issue facing performers is whether to choose a "learned" interpretation{{snd}}one that clarifies the complex contrapuntal structure of the piece{{snd}}or one that focuses primarily on the dramatic impulses of the music.<ref>{{harvp|Bitloch|2012|loc={{time needed|date=September 2023}}}}. Also see [[Arnold Steinhardt]] in {{harvp|Miller|2006|p=40}}, {{harvp|Blum|1987|p=164}}.</ref> "Beethoven had taken a form that is basically an intellectual form, where the emotions take second place, compared to the structure, and he has completely turned that around, writing one of the most emotionally charged pieces ever," says Sara Bitloch of the Elias Quartet.{{sfnp|Bitloch|2012|loc={{time needed|date=September 2023}}}} "As a performer that's a particularly difficult balance to find ... Our first approach was to find a kind of hierarchy in the themes ... but we found that when we do that we're really missing the point of the piece."

=== Tied eighth notes ===
{{Listen|type=music|help=no
 | header       = '''Recordings of tied eighth notes'''
 | filename     = Interpretation of eighth note subject of Grosse Fuge by Alban Berg quartet.ogg
 | title        = Alban Berg Quartett
 | description  = Emphasis on the first eighth note.<ref>[[Alban Berg Quartett]] (Gunter Pichler, violin, [[Gerhard Schulz (musician)|Gerhard Schulz]], violin, Thomas Kakuska, viola, Valentin Erben, cello), Recorded live at the Mozart-Saal, [[Konzerthaus, Vienna|Konzerthaus, Wien]], 11 June 1989</ref>
 | filename2     = Emerson_Quartet_playing_eighth_note_passage_of_Grosse_Fuge.ogg
 | title2        = Emerson String Quartet
 | description2  = Eighth notes are played as distinctly separate.<ref>Emerson Quartet (Eugene Drucker, violin, Philip Setzer, violin, Lawrence Dutton, viola, Paul Watkins, cello), from their album ''Ludwig van Beethoven: The Late String Quartets'' (Deutsche Grammophon, 2 May 2003)</ref>
 | filename3     = Brentano_quartet_interpretation_of_eighth_note_passage_in_Grosse_Fuge.ogg
 | title3        = Brentano String Quartet
 | description3  = Some of the eighth notes are separated, some joined.<ref>Brentano Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin, Serena Canin, violin, Misha Amory, viola, Nina Lee, cello), recorded live in concert, Princeton University, April 2012</ref>
}}

After one decides on the overall approach to the music, there are numerous local decisions to be made about how to play particular passages.<ref>For discussion of specific interpretive issues in the fugue, see also {{harvp|Blum|1987|pp=59, 70, 71, 73, 164–165}}, {{harvp|Anon.|2006}}, {{harvp|Winter|Martin|1994|pp=239–244}}.</ref> One issue concerns the peculiar notation that Beethoven uses in the syncopated presentation of the main subject{{snd}}first in the ''overtura'' but later throughout the piece. Rather than writing this as a series of quarter notes, he writes two tied eighth notes.<ref>''Grosse Fuge'', International edition, measures 26–30.</ref>

:<score lang="lilypond"> {
    \relative c' { \time 4/4 \key bes \major \tempo Allegro \set Score.currentBarNumber = #26
        \bar ""
        r4 bes8(\pp bes) r4 bes8( bes)
        r4 b8(_\markup { \italic sempre \dynamic pp } b) r4 aes'8( aes)
        r4 g8( g) r4 b,8( b)
        r4 c8( c) a'[( bes]) bes[( bes])
        a( a) r4\fermata
    }
}
</score>

Musicologists have tried to explain what Beethoven meant by this: [[David Benjamin Levy|David Levy]] has written an entire article on the notation,{{sfnp|Levy|2007}} and Stephen Husarik looked to the history of Baroque [[Ornament (music)|ornamentation]] for an explanation.<ref>{{harvp|Husarik|2016|p=261}}. Husarik contends that the slur suggests a dissonant Baroque vocal figure known as "trilletto" which is removed and redistributed to another voice part at the end of Grosse Fuge in order to resolve long term dissonance.</ref> Performers have interpreted it in various ways. The [[Alban Berg Quartett]] plays the notes almost as a single note, but with an emphasis on the first eighth note to create a subtle differentiation. Eugene Drucker of the [[Emerson String Quartet]] plays this as two distinct eighth notes. Mark Steinberg of the [[Brentano String Quartet]] sometimes joins the eighth notes, and sometimes separates them, marking the difference by playing the first eighth without vibrato, then adding vibrato for the second.
{{Clear}}

==Arrangement for piano four hands==
[[File:Grosse Fuge Manuscript.jpg|thumb|Manuscript of the ''Grosse Fuge'' arranged by Beethoven for piano four hands|281x281px]]
In early 1826, after Matthias Artaria had published the Op.130 quartet, he informed Beethoven that there had been "many requests" for a [[Duet (music)|piano four-hand]] [[arrangement]] of the ''Grosse Fuge''.{{sfnp|Solomon|1980|p=449}} This was well before any known discussion of publishing the fugue independently of the quartet; considering the generally negative reaction to the fugue, [[Maynard Solomon|Solomon]] speculates this may have been Artaria's initial ploy to persuade Beethoven to separate the fugue from the Op. 130 quartet. When Artaria asked Beethoven to prepare the piano arrangement he was not interested, so Artaria instead engaged composer {{ill|Anton Halm|de}} to arrange the piece. When Beethoven was shown Halm's work, he was not satisfied and immediately began writing his own note-for-note arrangement of the fugue. Beethoven's arrangement was completed subsequent to the [[String Quartet No. 14 (Beethoven)|C{{sharp}} minor String Quartet, Op. 131]], and was published by Artaria as Op. 134.{{sfnp|Cooper|2008|p=364}} Among Beethoven’s objections to Halm’s arrangement was that it tried to make it easier for the players. “Halm enclosed a note saying that for the sake of convenience he had to break up some of the lines among the hands. Beethoven wasn’t interested in convenience.”<ref>[[Jan Swafford|Swafford, Jan]]. (2014, p. 901) ''Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph''. London, Faber.</ref>

===Rediscovery of manuscript===
In 2005, Beethoven's 1826 [[autograph manuscript|autograph]] of his piano four-hands transcription of the ''Grosse Fuge'' resurfaced at [[Palmer Theological Seminary]] (then Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary) in Pennsylvania.{{sfnp|Wakin|2005}}{{sfnp|Anon.|2005}} The manuscript was authenticated by Dr. [[Jeffrey Kallberg]] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and Dr. Stephen Roe, head of [[Sotheby's]] Manuscript Department. The manuscript had been missing for 115 years. It was auctioned by Sotheby's on 1 December 2005, and bought for GBP 1.12&nbsp;million (US$1.95&nbsp;million) by a then-unknown purchaser, who has since revealed himself to be [[Bruce Kovner]], a publicity-shy multi-billionaire who donated the manuscript{{snd}}along with 139 other original and rare pieces of music{{snd}}to the [[Juilliard School of Music]] in February 2006. It has since become available in Juilliard's online manuscript collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org/|title=The Juilliard Manuscript Collection}}</ref> The manuscript's known provenance is that it was listed in an 1890 catalogue and sold at an auction in Berlin to a [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, industrialist, whose daughter gave it and other manuscripts including a Mozart ''Fantasia'' to a church in [[Philadelphia]] in 1952. It is not known how the Beethoven manuscript came to be in the possession of the library.

The most striking change in the piano duet version occurs at the start. "Beethoven had tampered in an interesting way with the first bars of the Fugue's introductory section. The quartet version begins with loud unison G's, spread over three octaves and one and a half bars. In his initial draft of the piano arrangement, Beethoven replicated the original. Then, apparently, he decided that the Gs needed more strength and weight. The manuscript shows that he squeezed in two extra tremolando bars, expanding the moment in time. He also added octaves above and below, expanding it in space."<ref>[[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] at [http://www.therestisnoise.com/2006/01/beethovens_gros.html "Great Fugue: Secrets of a Beethoven manuscript"], originally published in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 6 February 2006</ref>
[[File:Grosse Fuge piano duet arrangement bars 1-10.wav|thumb|Grosse Fuge piano duet arrangement bars 1–10]]
[[File:Grosse Fuge piano duet arrangement bars 1-11.png|thumb|center|upright=2.27|Grosse Fuge piano duet arrangement bars 1–10]]

According to pianist [[Peter Hill (pianist)|Peter Hill]], Beethoven transferred the Fugue from string quartet to piano "with obvious care. Revisiting the Fugue in this way may well have caused Beethoven to rethink the possibilities of what he had composed, to conclude that the Fugue could (and perhaps should) stand alone." Hill concludes, "What Beethoven created for the ''Grosse Fuge'' transcended the immediate purpose. Instead, he re-imagined a masterpiece in another medium, different from the original, but equally valid because equally characteristic of its creator."<ref>Hill, P. (2020) Liner notes to CD album, ''Beethoven, Works for Piano Four Hands'', performed by Peter Hill and Benjamin Frith. Delphian Records.</ref>

== In theatre ==
* 1992: {{lang|de|Die grosse Fuge}}, dance piece for 8 dancers by [[Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker]], {{ill|Rosas (dance ensemble)|fr|Compagnie Rosas}}
* 2001: ''Grosse Fugue'', dance piece for 4 dancers by {{ill|Maguy Marin|fr}}, Compagnie Maguy Marin
* 2016: ''Grosse Fugue'', dance piece for 12 dancers by [[Lucinda Childs]], [[Opéra National de Lyon]]<ref>[https://www.nouvelobs.com/culture/20161127.OBS1779/lucinda-childs-anne-teresa-de-keermaeker-et-maguy-marin-pour-trois-grandes-fugues.html Lucinda Childs, Anne-Teresa De Keermaeker et Maguy Marin pour Trois Grandes Fugues]</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
===Scores===
{{refbegin}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Große Fuge, Op.133 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)|cname=Große Fuge, Op. 133}}
* First published edition of the fugue by Matthias Artaria, 1825, available at [https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/51361 IMSLP]. The fugue was republished by [https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/04771 Breitkopf and Hartel] in 1866 in ''Ludwig van Beethoven's Werke'' Series 6. Urtext editions are published by Henle and by [https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/01464 Universal].
* [http://juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org/manuscript/grosse-fuge-string-quartet-arr/ Manuscript of the piano four-hand transcription] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201063148/http://juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org/manuscript/grosse-fuge-string-quartet-arr/ |date=1 February 2020 }} by Beethoven in the [[Juilliard School|Juilliard]] Manuscript Collection
{{refend}}

===Books===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Blum|first=David|title=The Art of Quartet Playing|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1987|isbn=0-8014-9456-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/artofquartetplay0000blum}}
* {{cite book|last1=Brand|first1=Juliane|last2=Hailey|first2=Christopher|title=Constructive Dissonance: Arnold Schoenberg and the Transformations of Twentieth-century Culture|year=1997|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=0520203143}}
* {{cite book |last=Chua |first=Daniel K. L. |title=The "Galitzin" Quartets of Beethoven |date=1995 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-04403-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Barry |title=Beethoven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tq5ci-9OMLEC&q=cooper+beethoven |access-date=3 July 2013 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195313314}}
* {{cite book|last=Husarik|first=Stephen|chapter=Gluck's Theme and the Surrender of Ornamentation to the Countersubjects in Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, op. 133|title=The String Quartet: From the Private to the Public Sphere |editor-first=Christian |editor-last=Speck |date=2016 |pages=251–261 |publisher=Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-56800-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Kahn |first=Robert S. |title=Beethoven and the Grosse Fuge: Music, Meaning and Beethoven's Most Difficult Work |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8108-7418-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Kerman |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Kerman |title=The Beethoven quartets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deTx46EhmFoC&pg=PA287|year=1979 |publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-00909-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Kerman |first=Joseph |title=Opera and the Morbidity of Music |date=2008 |publisher=New York Review of Books |isbn=978-1-59017-265-0 |publication-place=New York}}
* {{cite book |last=Kinderman |first=William|author-link=William Kinderman|title=Beethoven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmAM_yZK8kUC&pg=PA301|year=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08796-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Lockwood |first=Lewis |title=Beethoven: the music and the life |year=2005 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-32638-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5596V_Q9wQC&pg=PA461}}
* {{cite book |last=Marliave|first=Joseph de|author-link=Joseph de Marliave |title=Beethoven's Quartets |orig-year=1928 |year=1961 |publisher=Dover |isbn=0-486-20694-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Lucy |title=Adams to Zemlinsky |year=2006 |publisher=Concert Artists Guild |isbn=1-892862-09-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Page |first=Tim |title=Glenn Gould Reader |year=1990 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=0679731350 |url=https://archive.org/details/glenngouldreader00goul }}
* {{cite book |last=Radcliffe |first=Philip |title=Beethoven's String Quartets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XC45AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA138|year=1978 |publisher=[[CUP Archive]]|isbn=978-0-521-29326-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Ratner |first=Leonard G.|author-link=Leonard Ratner|title=The Beethoven String Quartets: Compositional Strategies and Rhetoric |year=1995 |publisher=Stanford Book Store |isbn=1-887-98100-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosen |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Rosen |title=[[The Classical Style]]: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven |year=1971 |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |isbn=0-571-04916-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Maynard |author-link=Maynard Solomon |title=Beethoven |year=1980 |publisher=Granada |isbn=0-586-05189-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0586051899 }}
* {{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Maynard |title=Late Beethoven: music, thought, imagination |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCNfoUlYat0C&pg=PA35|year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23746-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stravinsky |first1=Igor |author1-link=Igor Stravinsky |last2=Craft |first2=Robert|author2-link=Robert Craft|title=Dialogues and a Diary |url=https://archive.org/details/dialoguesanddiar00stra |publisher=Doubleday |year=1963}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Winter|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Martin|editor2-first=Robert|title=The Beethoven Quartet Companion|year=1994|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-20420-4}}
{{refend}}

===Journals and other sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web|author=Anon.|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/handwritten-beethoven-score-resurfaces-1.530912|title=Handwritten Beethoven score resurfaces|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=2005-10-13|access-date=2007-10-11|archive-date=12 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312010237/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2005/10/13/beethoven_051013.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|author=Anon.|date=2006|url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/444529 |title=Rehearsal Notes |publisher=[[International Music Score Library Project]]|access-date=2016-10-22}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Bitloch|2012}}|reference=Bitloch, Sara (21 February 2012) {{YouTube|title=Elias String Quartet, Beethoven Op 130 & 133: an insight by Sara Bitloch|id=jXSIOhjmdds}}}} {{Webarchive|url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/jXSIOhjmdds|date=2021-12-12}}
* {{cite journal|last=Husarik|first=Stephen|title=Musical direction and the wedge in Beethoven's high comedy, Grosse Fuge op. 133|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|date=Autumn 2012|volume=153|number=1920|pages=53–66|jstor=41703529}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=d'Indy |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent d'Indy |title=Beethoven |encyclopedia=Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music |year=1929}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kirkendale |first=Warren |title=The 'Great Fugue' Op. 133: Beethoven's 'Art of Fugue' |journal=[[Acta Musicologica]]|year=1963 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=14–24 |doi=10.2307/931606|jstor=931606}}
* {{cite journal |last=Levy |first=David B.|author-link=David Benjamin Levy|title='Ma però beschleunigend': Notation and Meaning in Ops. 133/134|date=Fall 2007|journal=Beethoven Forum|volume=14|number=2|pages=129–149|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/410339853/Notation-and-Meaning-Op-133-4-Beethoven-Daniel-Levy-pdf|via=[[Scribd]]|access-date=2023-09-07}}
* {{cite journal|last=Matthews|first=David|date=September 2006|title=Form Compelling|journal=[[London Review of Books]]|volume=28|issue=18|pages=27–29}}
* {{cite news|last=Service|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Service|title=The Proms: What will they make of Beethoven?|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 July 2008|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2008/jul/28/thepromswhatwilltheymake|access-date=2014-06-06}}
* {{cite news|last=Wakin|first=Daniel J.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/arts/music/13beet.html|title=A Historic Discovery, in Beethoven's Own Hand|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2005-10-13 |access-date=2007-10-11}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Stowell |editor-first=Robert|title=The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet |series=[[Cambridge Companions to Music]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-521-80194-X|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Vernon|first=David|title=Beethoven: The String Quartets|year=2023 |location=Edinburgh|publisher=Candle Row Press|isbn=978-1739659929|ref=none}}
* {{cite web |title=String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130, with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 |publisher=Chamber Music Northwest |url=http://www.cmnw.org/programNotes/071512notes.html |access-date=2014-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521203403/http://www.cmnw.org/programNotes/071512notes.html |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] at [http://www.therestisnoise.com/2006/01/beethovens_gros.html "Great Fugue: Secrets of a Beethoven manuscript"], originally published in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', 6 February 2006
* {{IMSLP |work=Große Fuge, Op.133 (Beethoven, Ludwig van) |cname=Große Fuge, Op. 133 |work2=Große Fuge, Op.133 (Beethoven, Ludwig van)#For Piano 4 hands (Beethoven) |cname2=Große Fuge for Piano Duet, Op. 134}}
* {{YouTube|EF_Xif2hvuk|''Große Fuge'', animated graphical score with motivic material indicated}}
* [https://traffic.libsyn.com/gardnermuseum/beethoven_op130.mp3 Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 130, with the ''Grosse Fuge'' as the final movement], performed by the Orion String Quartet
* Hill, P. and Frith, B. (2020) CD album, ''Beethoven, Works for Piano Four Hands'', Delphian Records.

{{Beethoven string quartets}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosse Fuge}}
[[Category:String quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven]]
[[Category:1826 compositions]]
[[Category:Fugues]]
[[Category:Compositions in B-flat major]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to nobility or royalty]]