At the Montpellier Festival, the Kreutzer Quartet performs one of the most avant-garde chamber works composed by Beethoven, the Grosse Fuge (Great Fugue) in B flat Major, Op. 133.
The Kreutzer Quartet is one of the most sought-after chamber ensembles in the UK. Known in particular for the eclectic programs it performs in great European venues, the quartet is depicted as a pioneer of classical and modern repertoires. Therefore their performance of Beethoven's Great Fugue in B flat Major, Op. 133, a work highly experimental and progressive, is another highlight of their "musical explorations"...
When he composed this Great Fugue during the last creative period of his life, between 1824 and 1825 – a work that was considered very late as a major piece in the history of music –, Beethoven gave it the subtitle « Tantôt libre, tantôt recherchée » which means "sometimes free of musical rules, sometimes very sophisticated". Indeed, the combination in the same score of the style of the fugue, of the sonata and of some variations give to this avant-gardist work an experimental aspect. On this point, Stravinsky declared at the end of his life that it was "an immortal work, forever contemporary."
