Ludwig van Beethoven completed his final string quartet—No. 16 in F major, Op. 135—in 1826. Its finale bears the heading “Der schwer gefasste Entschluss” (“The Difficult Decision”). The movement's opening chords frame the question “Muss es sein?”("Must it be?"), as per Beethoven's notes in the margin of the manuscript. The closing theme provides an answer: “Es muss sein!” (“It must be!”) This 2014 CMS performance from the Rose Studio features the Miró Quartet. Catch them at Alice Tully Hall on O