Schubert: String Quartets, D36 & D804

In this 1997 recording of Schuberts A minor String Quartet by the Verdi Quartet, the composer sounds tired nearly unto death. The opening Allegro ma non troppo sounds nearly exhausted with reticent melodies, reserved harmonies, and sluggish tempos, and its occasionally emotional outbursts flare up quickly and gutter even more quickly, collapsing back into an exhaustion that seems just this side of the eternity. The following Andante sounds entirely fatigued with mournful melodies, meager harmonies, and dragging tempos, and the Menuetto after that sounds utterly worn out with sinking melodies, falling harmonies, and inert tempos. The closing Allegro moderato sounds slightly more lively at the start, but its heavy melodies, weighty harmonies, and dreary tempos soon pull the music back down into the slough of despondency. There can be little doubt that this is the interpretation the Verdi chose to perform. They are clearly first-rate players with firm intonation and an able ensemble. But, equally clearly, their interpretations emphasis on the figure of the world-weary composer longing for the peace of the grave will be only for those who believe the 27-year-old actually did long for the peace of the grave. This may, of course, be the case: Schubert had recently contracted syphilis, the disease that would kill him in another four years. But he had also just completed a cure, and he seemed to believe he might yet live a long life. In the end, the rightness of the Verdi Quartets interpretation of the A minor Quartet will have to be judged by each listeners understanding of the music. Hansslers sound is warm but dim, clear but distant.