The other Razumovskys
Why BeethovenEvery chamber music lover knows that Beethoven wrote a set of three string quartets in 1806 for Count Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador in Vienna.
Razumovsky employed a house quartet, led by Beethoven’s friend Ignaz Schuppanzigh (see my book Why Beethoven for more).
But Beethoven was not the only composer to accept a Razumovsky commission.
There was a violist called Franz Weiss (1784-1830) who composed a pair of quartets. Nobody’s ever heard of them. Now Canada’s Eybler Quartet have recorded them. Out next month.
Thanks! Quite interesting. I am a big fan of the more famous Weiss, Silvius Leopold. Maybe this Weiss is just as food? 🙂
Three works by Weiss are available on IMSLP — two quartets and some variations for violin and orchestra. So it is not literally the case that “nobody” has ever heard or heard of them — but rare, to be sure.