Cypress String Quartet

SF Weekly: Cypress String Quartet at St. Anthony’s Dining Room (Beethoven in the City)

Source: www.sfweekly.com
By Jessie Schiewe
April 27, 2016

On November 9, 1822, Prince Nicholas Galitzine of Russia sent a letter to Beethoven asking for three string quartets at a price "you think proper." More than two months later, Beethoven wrote back, accepting the commission and quoting each opus at 50 ducats. Though this wasn't Beethoven's first string quartet, it was in this later period of his life — he died in 1827 — that he wrote the bulk of them, while occasionally ill and bedridden.

As happens all too often with great works, they were largely dismissed during Beethoven's time. Now, the string quartets are some of his best-known compositions. In celebration of its 20th season, the Cypress String Quartet will be playing a series of free, pop-up concerts — called "Beethoven in the City" — throughout San Francisco for two weeks in May. You can catch them at Sutro Baths, Bernal Heights Library, San Francisco General Hospital, the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Jane Warner Plaza at Castro Plaza, and a number of other locations.