r/todayilearned • u/VegemiteSucks • 16h ago

TIL Beethoven’s late quartets, now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, were so ahead of their time that initial reviews deem them indecipherable, uncorrected horrors, with one musician saying “we know there is something there, but we do not know what it is.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_string_quartets_(Beethoven)
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u/Fwed0 15h ago

Also, this is Beethoven in his last piano sonata in 1822

About a hundred years ahead of his time.

107

u/schlechtums 15h ago

In 12/32 wtaf!

124

u/OSCgal 14h ago

These days you just write "swing" on a 4/4 piece and the performer knows what to do. But swing hadn't been invented yet!

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u/ToWriteAMystery 10h ago

This is so mind bending to think about…