Concert Preview: The Beethoven Quartet Cycle Continues March 27

Alice Slee’s Remarkable Gift Is 70 Years Old

Fragment from Beethoven’s original manuscript, Opus 131.

Although Beethoven's symphonies and concertos have earned their prominent roles in the symphony hall canon, I respectfully suggest that it is in his cycle of sixteen quartets that Beethoven's genius finds its most complete expression.

As a body of work, Beethoven's quartets form a sonic diary of his musical development. Thanks to the generosity of Buffalo attorney Frederick Slee and his wife Alice since 1955 this entire cycle, in six concerts, has been annually performed here in Buffalo by the world's most accomplished ensembles.

I commend your attention to Mary Kunz Goldman’s “Beethoven in Buffalo: A Wonderful Gift for Music Lovers” for a vivid account of its origin.