 It was on a commission from a passionate lover of music and patron of the arts, Count Razumovsky, that Beethoven composed three string quartets, the Opus 59, numbers 1, 2, and 3. We're going to hear the first of those right now. Russian melodies are used by Beethoven in these pieces in tribute to this Russian ambassador to Vienna, Count Razumovsky. Here is a performance by the Amadeus Quartet and Beethoven's string quartet No. 7, the Razumovsky No. 1.