Building a Collection #24: Schubert's String Quintet in C major

With recommended recordings

Building a Collection #24

String Quintet in C major, D. 956

By Franz Schubert

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“The world resembles a stage on which every man is playing a part.”

– Franz Schubert

Thank you for joining me as we have reached #24 of the Building a Collection list of the top 250 classical works of all-time.  #24 is the String Quintet in C major by the great classical composer Franz Schubert.  Schubert’s Quintet in C is the first chamber music entry on our list.  

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was born in 1797 in Vienna and died in 1828 in Vienna.  In his tragically short life, Schubert became one of the greatest composers of all-time.  As the composer Franz Liszt said of Schubert, he was “...the most poetic of them all.”  Schubert lived at the end of the Classical period, and at the very beginning of the Romantic period.  At heart, Schubert was a romantic.  Schubert was the one mostly responsible for bringing the art of song (lieder) to the forefront of classical music.  He produced great works in nearly every genre:  orchestral, symphonic, lieder, keyboard, chamber music, choral, and opera.  Schubert possessed a tremendous gift for melody and harmony, and he expanded upon the classical forms used at the time.

Schubert played music at home with his family, and eventually was enrolled in a school for young vocalists to sing at the imperial court.  Schubert began composing on his own, and some of his songs came to the attention of the director Antonio Salieri (yes, the same Salieri associated with Mozart).  He was proclaimed a genius, but after his voice broke he was sent back to his family.  His father insisted that he become a teacher and follow in his footsteps.  While the young Schubert agreed, at night he would compose furiously.  Schubert had composed hundreds of works of many genres before the age of 20.  

Schubert eventually staked out on his own, taught some piano lessons, and was commissioned in 1820 to write operas for two of the opera houses in Vienna.  Unfortunately, the productions were not well-received perhaps owing to Schubert’s inventive harmonies and breakthrough style which were not accepted yet.  He struggled to obtain a contract from any publishers, and even though he published his own works for subscribers, he was barely scraping by financially.

Then in 1823, Schubert was elected as an honorary member of the Musikverein in Graz, Austria.  While relatively inconsequential in reality, Schubert enjoyed the recognition and took the opportunity to write his famous Unfinished symphony (usually numbered as his 8th symphony).  Later, Schubert’s music was featured at a concert at the legendary Musikverein in Vienna, where his music finally received an enthusiastic reception.  This may have been one of the few happy times in Schubert’s life, as he soon became ill (for a long time thought to be syphilis, but it is now thought he actually died from typhoid).  A shy, introverted, and humble man, Schubert was often lost in his own thoughts and was known to suffer from depression and even suicidal thoughts.  Despite his illness, he continued to compose at an incredible rate.  Schubert requested to be buried alongside Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he greatly revered.   He was also grateful for Beethoven’s positive reception of his music.  Schubert also loved Mozart and Haydn.  

Schubert’s greatest works include songs such as Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), Erlkonig, Ave Maria (no doubt you have heard), song cycles Die Schone Mullerin (The Beautiful Miller), Die Winterreise (Winter Journey), symphonies 8 and 9 (Unfinished and The Great), the “Trout” Piano Quintet, String Quintet in C major, Impromptus for piano, Piano Sonatas, “Death and the Maiden” Quartet, Deutsche Mass, and many others.

String Quintet in C major

Schubert composed his String Quintet in C major, D. 956 in 1828, which was the year of his death.  Although his earlier Piano Quintet in A major D. 667 “Trout” is perhaps more popular (with good reason, as it is a truly delightful work), it is his String Quintet in C that is richer and arguably more poignant.  One of Schubert’s last compositions, and although written in a major key, it also includes music that could almost be heard as a sad farewell.  It captures Schubert in his mature style, highlighting his gift for melody.  The first two movements move ambiguously  between major and minor keys, and while there is a prevailing positive tone, you can also clearly sense the darkness and the foreboding of death.  The work was unpublished at the time of Schubert’s death, and thereafter his brother sold the manuscript to a Viennese publisher.  Remarkably, the work remained unpublished until 1853 by which time the original sketches and manuscript had been lost.  It was posthumously attributed to Schubert, and today lives on as arguably the greatest work of chamber music in all of classical music.    

The String Quintet in C is relatively unique in that it uses two violins, a viola, and two cellos.  Generally string quintets had two violins, two violas, and one cello.  The added cello along with the two violins adds a richness of texture that adds to the depth of the sound produced.  It is massive in scale for a chamber work, lasting nearly an hour.    

The four movement structure used by Schubert is as follows:

1. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Adagio

3. Scherzo. Presto

4. Allegretto

American composer Jonathan Blumhofer summarizes Schubert’s String Quintet in C major very well on his own site:

The opening measures of the first movement – which go from the tonic, C major, to a dominant seventh chord and back to the tonic again – outline the overall harmonic character of the movement, which moves through a bewildering number of key areas before finally coming to rest (again) in C major. Two of the movement’s main motives can be described generally: a turn figure (first heard in the fourth measure) and a dotted rhythm that is basically interchangeable with a triplet fanfare gesture. Nearly all of the ensuing melodic and harmonic material of the movement derives from these two generic ideas.

The slow second movement, which begins and ends in the key of E major and includes a lengthy excursion in the middle in F minor, is closely related to the slow movement of Schubert’s great B-flat major piano sonata (which was, in fact, composed in the two months between the completion of this Quintet and Schubert’s death). In some ways, its nocturnal mood foreshadows later movements by Mahler and Bartok, though, stylistically, the music is unmistakably by Schubert, opening with a dotted rhythm (carried over from the first movement) in the first violin accompanying a slowly unfolding melody in the lower strings. The turbulent middle section provides a violently dramatic contrast that is marked by an impassioned duet between first violin and first cello.

The Scherzo is filled with rustic character and color, laden with drones and the rhythms (real or imagined) of folk music. The first third covers a huge range, both instrumentally and harmonically, moving from C major to E-flat to B major and, eventually, back to C. In between, Schubert introduces some surprising and wonderfully colorful dissonances that heighten the magic and energy of the movement. The middle section is of a wholly different character: slow, haunting, and subdued, recalling the dotted rhythms of the opening movement.

The finale is filled with jaunty, folk-ish rhythms and is, perhaps, the most explicitly Beethoven-influenced movement of the Quintet. The turn figure and triplet fanfare rhythm of the opening movement return here in force, though, overall, this movement employs both in more subtle ways than the opening one does. Towards the end, the tempo increases by degrees, as though the music is being consumed by frenzy, leading to a coda that dramatically sums up the Quintet’s harmonic character.

During the last two years of his life, Schubert composed the Quintet in C major, Symphony no. 9 “The Great”, the song cycle Winterreise, and his final three piano sonatas.  It is almost as though Schubert knew he didn’t have much time, and so he made an effort to produce as much as possible.  

The Essential Recording

The recording I most recommend for Schubert’s Quintet in C major was recorded by Columbia Records in July 1952 in Prades, France during the Prades Festival, and features the legendary Spanish cellist Pablo Casals.  The Prades Festival was started by Casals in 1950 to bring together great musicians and friends from all over the world to play music.  For many years Casals lived in exile in France in protest of the fascist Franco regime in Spain, and as a result for a long time he refused to perform in public as a protest, despite the pleas of friends and other musicians.  So it was suggested that since he would not perform in public elsewhere, what if everyone else came to his home in Prades?  Casals accepted, and the subsequent music making in the summers at Prades became magical.  Many famous recordings were made at Prades, with Casals either playing, conducting, or coordinating.  This Schubert recording is one of the most beloved recordings from those first years of the festival.  

On the recording are some of the most celebrated musicians of the twentieth century:  Violinist Isaac Stern (then only 32 years of age, with much of his starry career still ahead of him), violinist Alexander Schneider (a good friend of Casals, and a member of the Budapest String Quartet), violist Milton Katims (he would later go on to conduct the Seattle Symphony for 22 years), and cellist Paul Tortelier (international star cello soloist who revered Casals and learned much from his elder colleague), and then of course Casals himself.  Casals was one of the greatest cellists in history, and a master at his craft while also at bringing out the best in others.  His recording of Bach’s Cello Suites, made between 1936 and 1939, is THE landmark recording of that work.  Casals continued playing well into his nineties, and as late as age 93 was known to continue practicing three hours a day!

As for this recording of Schubert’s Quintet in C, the performance is intensely expressive and unapologetically romantic in its vision.  Please note the recording shows its age in terms of sound quality, and is not what you would expect from a more modern recording.  But it is perfectly listenable, and is in good sound for its age. If you listen closely, you will also hear Casals’ grunting in several places.  Moreover, the playing itself is not immaculate.  For some, these shortcomings might be a deal-breaker.  After all, there are more beautiful or smooth sounding versions of this masterpiece. However, for the sheer musicality, charm, emotion, and elan evident, this recording is irreplaceable.

What Casals and friends achieve here is not so much beauty but rather profound meaning.  I think that is why I am drawn to it so strongly.  The vigor and liveliness is balanced by the acute sensitivity and lyrical phrasing.  The Casals Edition of this recording also includes Schubert’s Symphony no. 5 in a 1953 recording from Prades.  It is also a delightful performance which was inexplicably never released until 1993.  It makes for a highly enjoyable partner to the Quintet, though very different in mood.  

Other Recommended Recordings

The Hollywood String Quartet with Kurt Reher on the second cello, violinists Felix Slatkin and Paul Shure, violist Paul Robyn, and cellist Eleanor Aller recorded the Quintet in C in early 1951, and the recording is now available on the Testament label.  A classic recording, it has many of the same assets as the Casals, but is a bit more relaxed and straightforward.  The Adagio in particular is quite moving.  It is paired with an outstanding sextet version of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht.

The Melos Quartet with star cellist Mstislav Rostropovich on second cello were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in 1978.  The Melos version is beautifully played, broadly paced, and dramatic.  Similar to Casals, the performance highlights the more powerful passages equally with the more lyrical ones.  The repeats are observed (they are not in the Casals version).  Even though this is a more lush, romantic reading, the group is able to maintain the rhythmic pulse behind the melody, something that other groups don’t manage as well.

The recording of the Quintet in C by the Quatuor Ebène: Pierre Colombet (violin); Gabriel Le Magadure (violin); Adrien Boisseau (viola); Raphaël Merlin (cello)  with Gautier Capuçon on cello on the Erato label is one of the finest versions available.  Released in 2016, this is a very special recording of this masterpiece.  Great sound and tremendous detail add to this group’s innate feel for color and contrast.  The recorded sound is excellent, but very close, which may require manipulation of your volume controls.  Dynamics are controlled superbly, and contrasts are emphasized more than I’ve heard before.  The result is a captivating reading, and I find it quite enjoyable.  

The young Pavel Haas Quartet (Violinists Veronika Jaruskova and Marek Zwiebel, violist Pavel Nikl, and cellist Peter Jarusek) from the Czech Republic recorded the Quintet in C with cellist Danjulo Ishizaka on the Supraphon label.  Released in 2013, and winner of the 2014 Gramophone Award, this recording is phenomenal in my opinion. Fresh and vibrant, with clean sound, this recording finds the performers with more of a dramatic edge than some others, even pushing the envelope on tempi and emotion.  It is a “young” performance, but really puts a new spin on the piece.  Tempos are faster than usual, but I find that this approach works very well both in retaining the emotional core of the music as well as presenting a sharper rhythmic picture.  This is the opposite of the Melos/Rostropovich approach, but equally satisfying.

I want to welcome those of you that are new readers.  Thank you for your readership and support!  Stay tuned for the next installment in the series, which will be #25 on our list: Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20.  Until then, enjoy Schubert and happy listening!

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Notes:

Blumhofer, Jonathan. https://www.jonathanblumhofer.com/writings/program-notes/schubert-string-quintet-in-c-major/. 2024.

Brennan, Gerald. Liu, James. Schrott, Allen. Woodstra, Chris.  All Music Guide to Classical Music, The Definitive Guide.  All Media Guide. Pp. 1194-1195, 1210.  Backbeat Books, San Francisco. 2005.

Chusid, Martin (1997). ""Schubert's Chamber Music: Before and After Beethoven". The Cambridge Companion to Schubert. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kozinn, Allan. The New York Times Essential Library Classical Music, A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings. Pp. 106-107. Times Books. Henry Holt and Company. New York. 2004.

Haylock, Julian (1994). Liner Notes, String Quintet & String Trio, The Raphael Ensemble. London: Hyperion Records. Retrieved 7 December 2013.

Layton, Robert. Gramophone Magazine. The Hollywood String Quartet. Gramophone online.

Reed, John. Master Musicians: Schubert. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 172.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/franz_schubert

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/the-hollywood-string-quartet 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quintet_(Schubert)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Casals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Stern

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Schneider

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Katims#Career

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tortelier