Franz Schubert 'Death & the Maiden' D.810, 2nd Movement being performed at a concert in C. D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre, Delhi.
The Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre, the Delhi Music Society in cooperation with the India International Centre presented this concert.
Schubert 'Death & the Maiden' D.810:
The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as Death and the Maiden, by Franz Schubert, is one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, after the composer suffered through a serious illness and realized that he was dying, it is Schubert's testament to death. The quartet is named for the theme of the second movement, which Schubert took from a song he wrote in 1817 of the same title; but the theme of death is palpable in all four movements of the quartet.
The quartet was first played in 1826 in a private home, and was not published until 1831, three years after Schubert's death. Yet, passed over in his lifetime, the quartet has become a staple of the quartet repertoire. It is D. 810 in Otto Erich Deutsch's thematic catalog of Schubert's works.
Second movement: Andante con moto
The second movement is a theme and five variations, based on the theme from the Schubert Lied. The theme is like a death march in G minor, ending on a G major chord. Throughout the movement, Schubert does not deviate from the basic harmonic and sentence structure of the 24-measure theme. But each variation expresses a profoundly different emotion.
In the first variation, a lilting violin descant floats above the theme, played in pulsing triplets in the second violin and viola that recall the triplets of the first movement.
In the second variation, the cello carries the theme, with the first violin playing the pulsating role - this time in sixteenth notes.
After two relaxed variations, the third variation returns to the sturm und drang character of the overall piece: a galloping fortissimo figure breaks off suddenly into piano; the violin plays a variant of the theme in a high register, while the inner voices continue the gallop.
The fourth variation is again lyrical, with the viola carrying the melody under a long violin line in triplets. This is the only variation in a major key - G major.
In the fifth variation, the second violin takes up the theme, while the first violin plays a sixteenth-note arpeggiated motif, with the cello playing the triplets in the bass. The variation grows from pianissimo to fortissimo, then again fades and slows in pace, finally returning to a restatement of the theme - this time in G major.
Source : Wikipedia
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