Search - Schubert, Juilliard String Quartet :: String Quartets 12-15

Schubert's final four quartets represent the last flowering of the Viennese Classical style. Their melodic generosity has always appealed to music lovers (and quartet players), though in the hands of some less disciplined ensembles the music can tend to sprawl. That's never a danger with these warm, impulsive performances, which allow the music's natural lyricism to flow vigorously without ever becoming sticky or sentimental. Schubert's String Quartet No. 12 is the single movement also known as the Quartettensatz ("Quartet Movement"), but the other three quartets are full-length, indeed epic works that bear comparison with the late works of Beethoven in musical richness and profundity. They had a huge impact on subsequent music--much more than Schubert's last symphonies, which weren't at all well-known until several decades after the composer's death. The Juilliard Quartet delivers intense, beautifully poised accounts of all four works, and this is most definitely a recording that belongs on anyone's Juilliard shortlist. --David Hurwitz