Octo_Russ

Schubert - String Quartet 14 'Death And The Maiden' [Tokyo String Quartet] 

Seems like i play this work almost every month, however my Blog says different, i haven't listened to this in a while, it's a great favourite of mine, 'D for Death' [written in D Minor], it's a dark and troublesome work, composed at a time in Schubert's life when he knew that he was dying, it's quite possibly autobiographical, Schubert uses the song of the title, and maybe he hoped to obtain some solace 'in the arms of Death', very unlike Mozart's 'sweet' Quartets, it's bleak in comparison, and yet it's a work of unremitting genius, and i find much comfort within its pages, this disc has appeared in my Blog twice [4th July 2011 & 5th January 2010].

The Tokyo String Quartet have finally decided to call it a day, and they will finish in 2013, this brings to an end an illustrious career that has spanned over four decades, and most importantly has spawned countless recordings, and it's this recorded legacy where new audiences can enjoy the past triumphs of the Quartet, they recorded this disc in 1989, the front cover [photo by Christian Steiner] shows the Quartet with their instruments, lovely colours of black and orange, and the lettering is well laid out.

The first two movements were thrilling, and again i have to say that the second movement variations are the spiritual centre of the work, it's a theme with 5 variations, the theme is played solemnly like a funeral march [very apt], and the second part of the theme is played more intensely [as is all the variations], the theme is played simply without any embellishments [0:00-2:14], the first variation tune is played by the First Violin, with the rest of the Quartet creating a background thrum [2:16-4:14], the second variation is darker, and now features the Cello as the soloist, while the rest of the Quartet chatter amongst themselves [4:16-6:31], the third variations is my favourite, a real angry variation in a way, hard driven at times, with lighter moments, almost as it were coming in waves, it has a tremendous ongoing drive to it [6:32-8:22], the fourth variation by contrast is lyrical and sweet, something that Haydn would do, yet it still has a touch of melancholy [8:23-11:05], the fifth variation is one of turmoil, starts of pleading and quiet, but soon shouts, all the instruments are pained, the movement ends on a sort of peaceful resignation of acceptance [11:06-14:05], a really lovely set of variations that explore all the facets of what a String quartet can do.

Here's the Takacs String Quartet playing the second movement Theme and Variations on YouTube.