The repertoire of KLANGKOLLEKTIV WIEN with its conductor Rémy Ballot is focused on a core of famous and lesser-known works of the First Viennese School. This live recording presents the two late String Quartets no.14 in C sharp minor, op.131, and no.16 in F major, op.135, by Ludwig van Beethoven in a version for string orchestra. The working title of this concert “Music from a Place of Inner Silence” refers to the fact that Beethoven had presumably completely lost his hearing by the time of composition of these works – he appears to have been turning more and more to an inner, spiritual world. Thus, these two great quartets encompass in their musical substance all possible moods and states of the soul and our being and were not only considered avant-garde at the time, but in many ways pre-shadow the daring of the Second Viennese School and the innovations of the Béla Bartók string quartets. This effect is significantly augmented by the expansion of the ensemble from the original four to 16 musicians.

“The style for this type of work has yet to be created. Not a single note must be changed... the whole structure is inexorable and inevitable as it now stands. You’ll see what undreamed-of effect the result will have!” – Gustav Mahler