Beethoven published his first six string quartets in 1801 as Opus 18. The set is designed to loosely follow the format of Haydn's Opus 33 Quartets and Mozart's Quartets dedicated to Haydn (each a set of six).
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BEETHOVEN SKETCH FROM 1800
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String Quartet 4 is often referred to as the "Orphan" quartet simply because there are no extant sketches of the work. Because of the presence of drafts for the other quartets in Opus 18, it is thought that String Quartet 4 is actually an earlier work that Beethoven modified to include in the set.
A highlight of the quartet is the Gypsy violin style of the 4th movement Rondo.
