This is an arrangement of the Op. 133 Grosse Fuge. This great work, scored for string quartet, began its musical life as the finale of the B flat Quartet, No. 13, but was withdrawn after its first performance on March 21, 1826, at the behest of Beethoven's publisher and others. There were complaints about the work's difficulties for both the players and public. A new finale was composed for the B flat Quartet and the now-orphaned Grosse Fuge was given a separate opus number (133).

Beethoven was only too aware of the high artistic quality of the Grosse Fuge and decided to arrange it for piano, four-hands. Probably his decision was prompted in part by the fact that the piano could easily delineate the fugal qualities of the work. There can be little challenge that inner voices and main lines can be heard in proper balance a bit more clearly in a keyboard rendering of such a composition. But he had to be all too aware that to reduce the sustaining sounds of the two violins, viola and cello to the non-sustaining tones of the piano would involve some problematic reductions of themes and harmonies, and involve many other adjustments, as well.

While this version of the Grosse Fuge cannot stand up to the original for string quartet, mainly because Beethoven could not adequately solve all the problems arising in the transcription process, this work is still an excellent arrangement of music that adapts surprisingly well. Nevertheless, many will regard this effort as a curiosity of no great significance in the composer's output.

This work was first published in Vienna in 1827.

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Beethoven's Grosse Fuge was originally to have served as the finale to the String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130 (1825); in fact, that work was first performed with this monumental creation as its sixth and concluding movement. However, the Grosse Fuge, a complete entity in its own right, proved too difficult for the performers and for some members of the audience. Moreover, it seemed an outsized finale for the relatively modest quartet. Beethoven subsequently produced a new final movement for the quartet, an attractive Rondo more in keeping with the spirit of the entire work.

The Grosse Fuge, eventually published as an independent work, is one of Beethoven's crowning achievements in the medium of chamber music. The work opens with an introduction, or "overtura." Here the mood is dramatic, effectively setting the stage for the whole work. The main theme—heroic and defiant, powerful and self-confident—is presented in four different versions. First, it is played fortissimo, in an emphatic, assertive manner, which will reemerge as its definitive guise in the coda. The subsequent accounts of the theme gradually become calmer and quieter.

The first fugal section is a double fugue marked Allegro. Here the main theme competes against another subject, which is also fiery and assertive. Their struggle, which includes substantial development, continues fortissimo. The second section, marked Meno mosso e moderato, is also a double fugue, its lyricism providing effective contrast to its predecessor. Here a new theme emerges from the counterpoint of the main melody. The third section, marked Allegro molto e con brio, features further struggle in which the theme eventually falters and seems to disintegrate. The second subject from the first fugal section emerges and appears to take control. Eventually, the main theme is rejuvenated in a passage marked Meno mosso moderato, and the signs of struggle fade in the two Allegro subsections that follow. The coda features the main theme in its original version, but now expanded and clearly triumphant. The mood turns reflective and mysterious, and suddenly the second subject appears, supported by the main theme. The work ends powerfully and magnificently.

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