 The septet is written as a classical divertimento in six movements, including two minuets, and a set of variations.It is full of catchy tunes, with solos for everyone, including the contrabass.In his 17 string quartets, composed over the course of 37 of his 56 years, Beethoven goes from classical composer par excellence to creator of musical Romanticism, and finally, with his late string quartets, he transcends classicism and romanticism to create a genre that defies categorization.