Teaching & Playing
SCHUBERT STRING QUARTET IN G MAJOR, FIRST MOVEMENT
MASTERCLASS
Xandi van Dijk, violist of the Signum Quartet, uncovers the details of interpretation that help us relate to a movement of such broad scope
From Schubert String Quartet in G major, Op.161 D887. Urtext edition, paperbound. Ed. Egon Voss. Order no. HN 850. ISMN 979-0-2018-0850-5. €23.00. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, München © 2010.
Every time one returns to a piece of music it should be with fresh ears and another layer of understanding, and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to do that many times with this work. Being the last and longest of Schubert’s string quartets, it has a justifiably weighty reputation. He intended it to pave the way for the great symphony he had been working on and there’s no doubt it is symphonic in scope.
Outbursts and consolation
This large-scale intention is clearly reflected in the dramatic opening. But we are quickly transported to something more lyrical, and after the violent eruptions and the mood swings that Schubert is so fond of, coming to the first subject at bar 15 is just wonderful. It is one of the holy moments of quartet literature. Florian, our first violinist, is a very creative and delicate player and, speaking as the violist in the quartet, it is just a joy to follow him through that theme.