The Adagio of Schubert’s String Quintet in C major begins with a hymn of otherworldly beauty. Soft pizzicato accompanies the quiet murmuring of the first cello and viola, all while the first violin echoes a halting, hesitant figure. The music is tranquil, almost dreamlike in its detachment from reality. Yet even amidst the calm, the harmonic motion of the middle voices hint at yearning for something unattainable.
Today’s recording of the second movement, Adagio, of Schubert’s String Quintet in C major is by violinists Isaac Stern and Alexander Schneider, violist Milton Katims, and cellists Pablo Casals and Paul Tortelier. (Listen)
Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major is widely regarded as one of the greatest chamber works ever written. This work for two violins, viola, and dual celli takes the audience on a musical journey that traverses soundscapes ranging from the sublime to the tormented.
The special sound of this quintet is due in no small part to the decision to include an extra cello in what would typically be a string quartet. With two celli in the ensemble, Schubert adds richness to the chamber’s texture and opens up new possibilities in voicing. Take the Adagio’s introductory phrase, for example, where one cello plays long notes with the viola and second violin while the other plucks the bass line. The weight and richness of the suspended chords in the middle voices gives the music its sense of peace while maintaining a steady pulse.
The tranquility of the Adagio doesn’t last. At 4:10, the violin sings the final phrase of the first section, a fragile fragment of a melody that fades away. Suddenly, the quintet erupts in an impassioned outburst in F minor. The peaceful atmosphere of the beginning is thrown into disarray as a syncopated figure in the violin and viola takes over. The first violin, doubled by the first cello, carries the tumultuous theme. The open and hopeful feeling of the beginning E major section disappears as a stormy and pain-ridden middle section takes over.
A Late-in-Life Composition
The String Quintet in C Major was actually Schubert’s final chamber work. Completed just two months before his death at the age of 31, this quintet is now often romanticized as one of Schubert’s “final testaments.” Was Schubert aware that his time was coming to an end? Did he write this quintet, among other works, to express his thoughts on mortality? It’s difficult to say.
However, there is no denying the fact that the last two years of Schubert’s life were extraordinarily productive. From his “Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946,” to the song cycle “Winterreise,” perhaps there is credence behind the idea that Schubert, sensing his time was short, made a final push to express as much as he could.
The angst of Adagio, reaching a peak at 6:28, may very well be an expression of Schubert’s defiance against death. The melody rages and rages, repeating the same note over and over until the pressure boils over like an exploding kettle. Eventually, the extroversion of the turmoil transforms into a deep, internal pain. At 7:20, the music winds down into a deathly silence. Eventually, the hushed chords of the ensemble lead back into E major. The peace of the opening returns yet it somehow feels irrevocably damaged.
On Schubert’s tombstone lies an inscription from Franz Grillparzer: “Here music has buried a treasure, but even fairer hopes.” Schubert, passing away at a relatively young age, left much music unwritten. Perhaps no music encapsulates this feeling of what “could have been” better than Schubert’s own music. Just listen to how the Adagio of the String Quintet, after turbulence and struggle, finds peace again at 10:20. The harmony pushes forward, even as the violin echoes its plaintive cry over and over. Eventually, the echo fades away, leaving only the vestiges of the opening hymn behind.
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