Schubert - String Quartet 14 [Artis String Quartett]This is only the third time i've listened to this disc, it sounds pretty much like every other performance i've heard on disc, very passionate and dark, i think it will take a fair degree of listens before i hear its 'individual' voice, the Lindsay String Quartet remain my first choice, which i played a couple of months ago, [19 September 2010].
The Artis String Quartett, are from Austria, they were formed in 1980, this was another disc i bought on Ebay, the front cover group shot is excellent [by Axel Zeininger], with all four members in casual dress, and holding their respective instruments, it's also good to have the early String Quartet 2 on this disc, which Schubert wrote when he was 16.
I listened to this disc today while i walked to Church [about 3 miles], i must admit i found the first three movements profound, it was a cold and somewhat gloomy day, the winter is drawing in, and this D Minor Quartet was atmospherically perfect for the occasion, i especially liked the way the Artis Quartett played the second movement, Schubert was a genius with the 'variation' medium [just think of his great success with the Trout Quintet, also taken from a Lied], my favourite variation is the third [6:48-8:43], but on this listen i was very excited by the second variation [4:35-6:47], and i listened to it more closely than before, and when i got home i listened to this part again, the main part [the tune] is played by the cello and viola, a sad and lonesome refrain, especially enhanced by the low string part they play [like Don Quixote and his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza, from Richard Strauss], but it's the lovely off kilter embellishments by the violins that make the piece, their intensity and volume ebbs and flows, the variation can be split into six parts A-A-B-A-B-A [4:35, 4:56, 5:17, 5:40, 6:02 & 6:24], the 'A' parts are slightly more dour, with the violins being more subdued, the 'B' parts are slightly more livelier in intensity, with the violins especially bleating away their message more frantically, i like the 'B' parts better, it's great to notice this today, once you see something, then you see it everytime you hear the piece again, music is built up in layers and layers of recognition!, it's a gorgeous dark String Quartet.
Here's the Alban Berg Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube, the second variation starts at 3:28.
