During its own time, Schubert’s music did not attract much attention. Nowadays, we love it en masse.
During Schubert’s lifetime, a Schubertiade was a concert performed in a private circle at which only music composed by Schubert himself would be performed. To most Viennese, Schubert was a thirteen-a-dozen composer, but a small group of connoisseurs discovered this diamond in the rough. A rare melodic talent, great artistic integrity and a considerable drive to innovate. In his own way, he was as progressive as Beethoven without making his music any less accessible. Only after his early death – Schubert was 31 years old – did more people begin to see that.
In our century, many more people are drawn to Schubert. Also, a Schubertiade is no longer needed to draw attention to Schubert’s music. We are more than happy to listen to his music, however. To his string quartets, for instance. We will be listening to an excerpt from two concerts from 2007. We will be listening to three of the five works performed at those concerts: the standalone Quartet Movement, the string quintet and the final string quartet. The quintet is one of the most appreciated and most loved chamber music works in the entire classical repertoire. There is a perfect balance between form and content, experimentation and tradition, melody and harmony. The quartet gives us a little more of Schubert’s experimental side. The unusual harmonic effects with which he spruces up his otherwise serene music create a mystical atmosphere: dreamy, but at the same time mysterious.
Playlist
- Quartet Movement in C minor, D 703
- String Quintet in C major, D 956
- String Quartet in G major, D 887
- Piano Sonata in B-flat, D 960: Scherzo
