Notes for: July 24, 2007
When Schubert was growing up in the first two decades of the 19th century, the string quartet was the most commonly played and taught form of group instrumental music. Haydn and Mozart had provided the models, and their quartets were carefully studied in music schools and conservatories. Unlike symphonies, moreover, quartets could be played at home, and they provided a rich diet for musical families like the Schuberts.
When he was 14 years old, consequently, Schubert began composing string quartets for his family ensemble – his brothers Ferdinand and Ignaz played the violins; his father Franz Theodor, the cello; and young Franz himself, the viola. By the time he was 20, he had written no fewer than 15 quartets for family use. Of these, four have been lost, and the remaining eleven, while displaying the composer’s gift for melody, are clearly works of his formative years.
This quartet was one of six that Schubert wrote in 1813, his final year at the Imperial City Seminary. The previous summer Schubert’s voice had “broken” – “Schubert, Franz,” he scribbled on his vocal part, “crowed for the last time, 16 July 1812.” This inevitable event ended his career as a choirboy in the Imperial Court Chapel, whose members attended and resided at the seminary at no charge. The seminary authorities permitted him to stay on for a year or so, but his father was eager to have Franz join the staff of the elementary school he operated on the ground floor of the family residence. Franz produced the quartets to give the family something to play on his return home.
D. 87, the quartet we hear this evening, was the best of the six and was published as Op. 125, No. 1, in 1830, two years following Schubert’s death. For many years, the quality of the quartet led Schubert’s editors to believe that it was composed in 1817 or later. The discovery of the manuscript following World War I firmly established November, 1813, as the date of composition, and today it is the only one of the six early quartets performed with any frequency.
The quartet was clearly written for home consumption – in Europe it sometimes called “The Household Quartet.” The work is melodious, easy to play, and with three of the four movements in clearly organized sonata form (that is, an exposition of the themes, then their development and then their restatement). All of the movements are in the tonic E-flat major, and there are none of the daring changes in key that were to become Schubert’s hallmark.
The first movement is an early example of Schubert’s life-long ability to turn out good tunes. The gracious first theme has three phrases, each of which would have been enough. A syncopated figure in the viola leads to the equally gracious second theme. And the first violin has an infectious third theme over a dotted accompaniment in the other instruments.
The scherzo comes next, and it is Beethovenish in its wit. The repeated figure of the main section is created by a quick upward grace note followed by a downward plunge. The contrasting trio is a smoother interlude suggesting a folk song.
The slow movement is a return to sonata form. The first theme is launched by all four players. The first violin offers the second theme against a background of throbbing 16th notes.
The finale is infectious in its high spirits. Against an accompaniment of 16th notes, the first violin presents the sparkling first theme – two ascending phrases answered by three in a downward direction. The second theme is equally ingratiating – a phrase for the first violin over a staccato accompaniment. Even at the age of 16, Schubert could turn out catchy tunes.