{{Infobox musical composition

| name = String Quartet

| subtitle = No. 16

| type = Late string quartet

| composer =

| image = Incipit of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16.png

| caption = Incipit of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16

| key = F major

| opus = 135

| composed = October 1826

| dedication = Johann Nepomuk Wolfmayer

| duration =

| movements = Four

| premiere_date = 23 March 1828

| premiere_performers = Schuppanzigh Quartet

}}

alt=Muss es sein?|thumb|Muss es sein?|450x450pxThe String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, by Ludwig van Beethoven was written in October 1826 and was the last major work he completed. Only the final movement of the Quartet Op. 130, written as a replacement for the Große Fuge, was composed later. Beethoven dedicated the composition to his patron and admirer, Johann Nepomuk Wolfmayer. The Schuppanzigh Quartet premiered the work on 23 March 1828, one year after Beethoven's death.

The Op. 135 quartet is the shortest of Beethoven's late quartets. Under the introductory slow chords in the last movement, which is headed (The difficult decision), Beethoven wrote in the manuscript (Must it be?) to which he responds, with the faster main theme of the movement, (It must be!).

It is in four movements:

{{Ordered list|type=upper-roman

| Allegretto (F major)

| Vivace (F major)

| Lento assai, cantabile e tranquillo (D major)

| . Grave, ma non troppo tratto (, F minor) – Allegro (, F major)

}}The autograph manuscript of the first movement of the work is preserved in the Beethoven House.

The performance of the work takes around 22–25 minutes.

The work features in Czech author Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, where the character Tomas uses the phrases and to describe his approach to fate.

Notes

Further reading

  • "Quartett für zwei Violinen, Viola und Violoncello (F-Dur) op. 135, 1. Satz", Beethoven House
  • Project Gutenberg E-Book of the Quartet
  • Performance by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format