My String Quartet No. 7 – the second of my ‘Beethoven studies’ – is the first of my quartets to possess a two-movement structure. The density of texture is additionally enhanced, meaning that the opening Grave is internally so jaggedly animated that it is never quite clear whether it is perhaps an Allegro movement after all. The second movement is a mirror image of the first: it begins with a playful pizzicato Allegro – initially tentative attempts towards a calm, chorale-like cantabile are repeatedly rebuffed by new fast elements. Ultimately, a melodious hymn exalting in the greatest heights succeeds in establishing itself. Jörg Widmann