Wednesday, May 4, 2022*
String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Opus 18, No. 1
Museum Lab (6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212)
*Please note: Masks are required for this date.
The Library Project debuts on Pittsburgh’s North Side at Museum Lab, housed in the first of more than 1,600 public libraries that Andrew Carnegie built across the United States. Featuring Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, the series begins its journey with an introduction to Andrew Carnegie, Ludwig van Beethoven, and the masterpieces they created: the establishment of free public libraries for the self-advancement of all and the evolution of the string quartet into a musical form that expresses the complexity of the human experience.
Kelsey Blumenthal, Marta Krechkovsky, Andrew Wickesberg, Karissa Shivone
Saturday, May 14, 2022*
String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Opus 18, No. 5
2:00 p.m
Carnegie Library of McKeesport (1507 Library Ave., McKeesport, PA 15132)
Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 5, presented at Carnegie Library of McKeesport, reflects his high regard for Mozart, who had died at the early age of 35 just a few years before Beethoven began working on his first set of string quartets. Beethoven studied Mozart’s quartet of the same key in great detail as he ventured into the world of string quartet composition, and his String Quartet No. 5 largely mirrors the form of Mozart’s work while containing distinctly Beethoven nuances.
Lorien Hart, Sarah Clendenning, Erina Laraby-Goldwasser, David Premo
*Reservations have closed, but walk-ins are welcome.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022*
String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Opus 18, No. 3
CLP Beechview (1910 Broadway Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15216)
Beethoven published his early quartets as a set of six pieces, arranged not by the order in which they were composed but rather in a custom order determined by Beethoven himself. String Quartet No. 3, presented at one of CLP’s newer branches in Beechview, was the first quartet Beethoven sketched and portrays from the start a composer mastering a traditional form and moving it in a new direction.
Justine Campagna, Andrew Fuller, Andrew Wickesberg, Anne Williams
*Reservations have closed, but walk-ins are welcome.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022*
String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Opus 59, No. 1
CLP Hazelwood (5006 Second Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15207)
“Not for you, but for a later age,” Beethoven wrote of his String Quartet No. 7, the first of his middle quartets and a profound turning point in his compositional career. Hear the new and different roles Beethoven crafts for each string instrument in this pivotal quartet while visiting the new home of CLP Hazelwood, the original location of which opened on Monongahela Street in 1900.
Susanne Park, Dennis O'Boyle, Andrew Wickesberg, Anne Williams
*Reservations have closed, but walk-ins are welcome.
Monday, June 6, 2022*
String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Opus 59, No. 2
Oakmont Carnegie Library (700 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont, PA 15139)
Beethoven continued to reinvent the possible shapes and sounds of the string quartet with his String Quartet No. 8, the second of a set of three quartets commissioned by Count Razumovsky and featured at the Oakmont Carnegie Library. Founded by the Oakmont School Board with funding from Andrew Carnegie, the library too has evolved its shape and services over the years in its ongoing aim to be a welcoming and accessible resource for the local communities of Oakmont and Verona.
Jen Orchard, Yeokyung Kim, Marylène Gingras-Roy, Charlie Powers
*Reservations have closed, but walk-ins are welcome.
Saturday, June 11, 2022
String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Opus 95, “Serioso”
CLP Mt. Washington (315 Grandview Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15211)
The last of Beethoven’s middle quartets, String Quartet No. 11 – dubbed by the composer as “Serioso” – is the shortest of the string quartet cycle. Despite Beethoven’s letter to George Smart stating it was “written for a small circle of connoisseurs, and never meant to be heard by the general public,” it is also perhaps his most well-known quartet, making it a particularly pleasing pairing for the popular CLP Mt. Washington – accessible, exciting, and as dramatic as the view from the library.
Ellen Chen-Livingston, Shannon Fitzhenry, Erina Laraby-Goldwasser
Mikhail Istomin
Thursday, June 23, 2022
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Opus 132
Carnegie Library of Homestead (510 East 10th Ave., Munhall, PA 15120)
One of only a few locations to hold Carnegie’s full vision of a library paired with a music hall and swimming pool, Carnegie of Homestead was among the first libraries Andrew Carnegie funded in Allegheny County. In this fully realized vision of a space “Free to the People” is Beethoven’s poignant and powerful String Quartet No. 15, featuring the Holy Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to God – an extraordinary musical depiction of struggle and relief.
Dennis O'Boyle, Ross Snyder, Rimbo Wong, Will Chow
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Opus 130
CLP Homewood (7101 Hamilton Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15208)
As the Library Project nears its end, we travel to CLP Homewood to explore Beethoven’s extraordinary String Quartet No. 13 in an extraordinary space. The last Carnegie library built in the City of Pittsburgh, CLP Homewood was also Andrew Carnegie’s home library and features special additional features, including the auditorium where Mister Rogers filmed numerous episodes. In this neighborhood library larger than most is Beethoven’s grand six-movement quartet, complete with its revolutionary Grosse Fuge ending that pushed the power of the string quartet into a new sphere.
Dennis O'Boyle, Shannon Fitzhenry, Rimbo Wong, Bronwyn Banerdt
