Schubert: String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956

Schubert in 1827 (oil on canvas, by Anton Depauly)

 

 Peter Schubert (German: [fʁants ˈpeːtɐ ˈʃuːbɐt]; 31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the art song "Erlkönig" , the Piano Trout Quintet in A major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the "Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, a String Quintet, the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise.

Oil painting of Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder (1875), made from his own 1825 watercolour portrait

 

String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956 

아마데우스 퀄텟 윌리엄 플리트 (첼로) 1977

00:00 String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956: I. Allegro ma non troppo 15:04 String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956: II. Adagio 30:03 String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956: III. Scherzo & Trio 41:03 String Quintet in C major op.163 D.956: IV. Allegretto [Kim's Sound]

 

이 작품은 슈베르트의 마지막 실내악곡이다. 현재 자필악보는 사라져 정확한 작곡시기를 알 수 없지만 출판사인 프로푸스트 앞으로 보낸 1828년 10월 2일자의 슈베르트 편지 중에는 현악 5중주곡을 작곡한 사실을 서술하였다. 다시 말해, 사망하기 약 2개월 전에 만들어진 작품이라는 이야기지만 장대한 스케일과 숭고한 내용을 가지고 있는 이 5중주곡은 마치 슈베르트가 마지막으로 도달한 위대함을 표현하고 있는 것 같다. 많은 악상을 가지고 전개하는 독자적인 서법에는 최후에 만든 3곡의 피아노 소나타에도 공통적으로 나타나는 만년 슈베르트의 양식이 단적으로 나타나 있지만 일단 이 5중주곡에서 주목할 수 있는 것은 마지막 시기 3곡의 현악 4중주곡 이후 그가 실내악에서 요구한 관현악 규모의 울림이 5개의 현악기로 커진 편성에 의해 훌륭하게 나타났다는 점이다. 슈베르트가 현악 5중주곡을 작곡함에 있어서 자신이 좋아했던 모차르트의 5중주곡(비올라가 2대)을 모방하지 않고 2대의 첼로를 편성한 것은 이러한 관현악의 울림을 추구하였기 때문일 것이다. 2대의 첼로를 사용하는 수법은 이미 보케리니의 예가 있지만 슈베르트는 아마도 보케리니를 모델로 했다기보다는 큰 울림을 구하기 위한 필연적인 결과로 2대의 첼로를 사용했으리라는 추측이 가능하다. 2대의 첼로를 통해 사용한 서법을 보면 단순히 서로를 보조하듯 짝으로 취급하는 것이 아니라 서로 독립적으로 움직이는 경우도 많은데, 한 대가 저음부를 담당하고 있고 다른 한 대는 바이올린과 비올라를 연결시키거나 독자적인 움직임을 보이고 있다. 다시 말해, 슈베르트는 2대의 첼로를 교묘하게 사용함으로써 저음 음역을 풍부하게 표현할 뿐 아니라 여러 음역에서의 변화와 음색의 다양성을 가능하게 하였다. 슈베르트 [현악5중주]의 1악장이 시작되면 평이한 C장조 화음이 들려오지만 이내 감7화음의 불안정한 화음이 그 뒤를 따르며 불안정한 분위기를 만들어낸다. 1악장 내내 편안한 장조 화음과 비틀린 단조 화음의 교대가 계속되며 묘한 불안감을 자아내는데, 이는 슈베르트 말년의 작품에 자주 나타나는 특성으로 신비롭고 영적인 느낌을 전해준다.  1악장 제시부에서 두 대의 첼로로 연주되는 제2주제는 이 작품에서 매우 유명한 선율로 이 작품에 따스하고 포근한 빛을 부여하는 아름다운 음악이다. 느린 2악장은 매우 영감에 찬 음악으로, 뚜렷한 선율선이 드러나기보다는 연속하는 화음이 하나의 선율적인 흐름을 만들어내며 주제를 이룬다. 이는 비슷한 시기에 작곡된 슈베르트의 [피아노 소나타 D960]의 2악장과 매우 유사한 방식으로, 화음적인 선율이 여러 가지 장식적인 음형에 의해 변주되는데, 그 과정에서 제2첼로가 손가락으로 현을 퉁겨 소리 내는 ‘피치카토’ 주법이 매우 효과적으로 사용되었다.  2악장 중간 부분에서 슈베르트는 아무런 예고도 없이 갑작스럽게 슬픔과 격정을 폭발시킨 후 극도의 여린 음으로 마무리하며 극에서 극으로 치닫는 감정의 기복을 생생하게 담아냈다. 3악장은 시골 풍 춤곡의 활력이 느껴지는 음악이지만, 중간 트리오 부분에서 템포가 느려지면서 또다시 우울한 분위기에 휩싸인다. 이 작품의 트리오는 슈베르트의 전 작품들 중 강한 대조의 원리를 보여주는 음악으로 활력에 넘치는 스케르초와 강한 대비를 이룬다.  4악장은 헝가리 풍의 이국적인 주제로 시작하는 음악이다. 마지막 부분에서 두 번에 걸쳐 매우 빠른 템포로 격앙되면서 화려하고 압도적인 결말을 이끌어낸다.======================================https://youtu.be/Zl6MIf4rCis

 

Janine Jansen - violin Julia-Maria Kretz - violin Màtè Szücs - viola Daniel Blendulf - cello Jan-Erik - Gustafsson cello Vinterfest 2011, Mora (Sweden)

 

Franz Schubert's final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major (D. 956, Op. posth. 163) is sometimes called the "Cello Quintet" because it is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello instead of the extra viola which is more usual in conventional string quintets. It was composed in 1828 and completed just two months before the composer's death. The first public performance of the piece did not occur until 1850, and publication occurred three years later in 1853. Schubert's only full-fledged string quintet, it has been praised as "sublime"[1] or "extraordinary"[2] and as possessing "bottomless pathos," and is generally regarded as Schubert's finest chamber work as well as one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music.[3][4][5]

Composition and publication history[edit source]

The string quintet was composed in the summer or early autumn of 1828,[4]: 183  at the same time as Schubert composed his last three piano sonatas and several of the Schwanengesang songs.[3] Schubert completed it in late September or early October, just two months before his death.[3] Schubert submitted it to one of his publishers, Heinrich Albert Probst, for consideration, saying that "finally I have written a quintet for 2 violins, 1 viola, and 2 violoncelli ... the quintet rehearsal will only begin in the next few days. Should any of these compositions by any chance commend themselves to you, please let me know."[6] Probst replied, asking only to see some of Schubert's vocal works and requesting more popular piano music. Even at this very late stage in Schubert's career, he was regarded as a composer who mainly focused on songs and piano pieces, and was definitely not taken seriously as a chamber music composer.[7] The work remained unpublished at the time of Schubert's death in November 1828; the manuscript was sold to the Viennese publisher Diabelli by Schubert's brother Ferdinand shortly thereafter, but was neglected and indeed waited twenty-five years for its first publication in 1853. The manuscript and all sketches are now lost. The first known public performance occurred only three years earlier, on 17 November 1850 at the Musikverein in Vienna.

Instrumentation and genre[edit source]

The work is the only full-fledged string quintet in Schubert's oeuvre. When he began composing his string quintet, Schubert had already composed an impressive body of chamber music for strings, including at least fifteen string quartets, most of which were composed for domestic performance by his family's string quartet.

Schubert selected the key of C major in a possible gesture to two composers he greatly admired, Mozart and Beethoven, both of whom wrote string quintets in that key, Mozart's String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K. 515 and Beethoven's String Quintet, Op. 29 in C major. According to Charles Rosen, the opening theme of Schubert's work emulates many characteristics of the Mozart quintet's opening theme, such as decorative turns, irregular phrase lengths, and rising staccato arpeggios (the latter appear only in Schubert's recapitulation).[8]

But whereas the string quintets of Mozart and Beethoven are composed for a string quartet augmented by a second viola, Schubert adopts a somewhat unconventional instrumentation, employing two cellos instead of two violas, creating richness in the lower register. Before Schubert, Luigi Boccherini had replaced the second viola with a second cello; however, Schubert's use of the second cello is very different from Boccherini's, who uses the additional cello to create an additional viola line.[9] Alfred Einstein has proposed that Schubert's use of a second cello to enhance the lower strings may have been suggested by George Onslow, who used a double bass in some of his quintets.

Analysis[edit source]

The string quintet consists of four movements in the usual quick-slow-scherzo-quick pattern:

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. Andante sostenuto
4. Allegretto

First movement: Allegro ma non troppo[edit source]

In common with other late Schubert works (notably, the symphony in C major, D. 944, the piano sonata in B-flat major, D. 960, and the string quartet in G major, D. 887), the quintet opens with an extremely expansive movement: an Allegro ma non troppo that accounts for more than one third of the total length of the piece (typically, 50 minutes). The movement is notable for its unexpected harmonic turns. The exposition, lasting 154 bars, begins with an expansive C major chord: as in the G major quartet, D. 887, Schubert here "presents his harmonies—rather than a memorable, well-contoured melody—without a regular rhythmic pulse."[4]: 183  This is followed by music of gradually increasing motion and tension, leading to the contrasting second subject, in the unexpected key of E-flat, introduced as a duet between the two celli.[3] The exposition concludes with a dominant (G major) chord that leads naturally back to the opening tonic chord on the repeat.[3] However, after the repeat of the exposition, Schubert begins the development section with a daring modulation from the dominant to the submediant that "lift[s] the music magically" from G major to A major.[3]

Second movement: Adagio[edit source]

The "sublime" second movement, one of Schubert's rare adagios,[4]: 183  is in three-part ABA (ternary) form. The outer sections, in E major, are of an otherworldly tranquility, while the central section is intensely turbulent: it breaks suddenly into the tranquility in the distant key of F minor. When the opening music returns, there is a running 32nd-note passage in the second cello which seems to have been motivated by the turbulence that came before it.[10] In the last three measures of the movement, Schubert ties the entire movement together harmonically with a modulation to the F minor of the middle section and an immediate return to E major.

The use of ternary structure to contrast tranquil outer sections with a turbulent central section resembles the second movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959, composed at the same time as the quintet.

The juxtaposition of E major and F minor, exceedingly distantly related keys, establishes the importance of the "tonal relationship of lowered second degree" (or flat supertonic) "to the tonic" which will be exploited in the third and fourth movements.[4]: 184 

Third movement: Scherzo[edit source]

The Scherzo, beginning in C major, is symphonic and large-scaled, with the open strings of the lower instruments exploited in an innovative manner [11] that creates a volume of sound seemingly beyond the capabilities of five stringed instruments. The first section moves to A♭ major and then back to C major. The middle section of this movement moves to E♭ major, then B major, which is ♭VI of ♭III. The C major theme returns at the end. The Trio is in D-flat major, creating another important flat-supertonic relationship.

Fourth movement: Allegretto[edit source]

The last movement is an exuberant sonata-rondo whose form resembles that of the finale of Mozart's C major quintet [4]: 184  The main theme demonstrates clear Hungarian influences. The movement is in C major, but is built upon the interplay of the major and minor modes.[4]: 184  It has unusual technical features, such as the final two notes: the flat supertonic (D-flat) and the tonic (C), played forte in all parts.[note 1]

Legacy[edit source]

After Schubert's string quintet was belatedly premiered and published in the 1850s, it gradually gained recognition as a masterpiece.

An early admirer was Brahms whose Piano Quintet (1865) was inspired in part by the newly discovered work. Brahms, in fact, originally wrote that work as a string quintet with two cellos (the complement used by Schubert) and only later recast it as a piano quintet. The piano quintet is in F minor, the key of the turbulent central section of Schubert's Adagio, while the third movement recalls the C minor/major of Schubert's Quintet, and that movement ends in the same manner as Schubert's finale, with strong emphasis on the flat supertonic D-flat, before the final tonic C.[12]

Schubert's quintet was also orchestrated by the Japanese conductor and composer Hidemaro Konoye.[13]

Current consensus holds that the Quintet represents a high point in the entire chamber repertoire.[10][11][14][15]

Although there is no reason to believe Schubert expected to die so soon after composing the work, the fact that the quintet was completed a mere two months before his death has inspired some listeners to hear in it a valedictory or death-haunted quality. For John Reed, the quintet prefigures Schubert's death, ending as it does with D-flat followed by C, both in unison and octaves: "As Browning's Abt Vogler put it, 'Hark, I have dared and done, for my resting place is found, The C major of this life; so, and now I will try to sleep.'" [7] The violinist Joseph Saunders had the second theme of the first movement carved on his tombstone; Arthur Rubinstein's wish was to have the second movement played at his funeral.[3]

The second movement's plaintive mood makes it popular as background music for pensive or nocturnal scenes in film. Examples include Nocturne Indien, Conspiracy, The Human Stain, and Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. Also, Episode 21 from the Inspector Morse television series (Dead on Time) draws extensively from this quintet, as does Episode 16 (Lazaretto) of its prequel Endeavour, and certain episodes in Desmond Morris's BBC series The Human Animal.

Notable recordings[edit source]

Schubert's string quintet has often been recorded. The first recording was made by the Cobbett Quartet in 1925.[16] Two recordings from the early 1950s are widely cited as legendary: a 1952 performance featuring Isaac Stern and Alexander Schneider, violins; Milton Katims, viola; and Pablo Casals and Paul Tortelier, cellos; and a 1951 performance by the Hollywood String Quartet with Kurt Reher on second cello (a 1994 CD reissue of this performance was awarded a Gramophone Award).

Among modern recordings, that featuring the Melos Quartet with Mstislav Rostropovich (1977) has been acclaimed, and is notable for the exceptionally slow tempo adopted for the Adagio. Rostropovich later recorded the quintet with the Emerson String Quartet (12/1990) on the occasion of the gala concert celebrating the 125th anniversary of the BASF AG, Ludwigshafen. A few recordings of the quintet performed on period instruments exist, including a 1990 recording on the Vivarte label with the following lineup: Vera Beths and Lisa Rautenberg, violins; Steven Dann, viola; and Anner Bylsma and Kenneth Slowik, cellos.