Schubert: Quartets Nos. 10, 14 "Death and the Maiden"

Album review

‘When we approach a composer, we like to immerse ourselves in his or her early works, in order to understand the evolution of the person behind the score.
‘It was quite naturally that the idea emerged of coupling a youthful quartet, no.10, composed at the age of sixteen, with a masterpiece by the mature Schubert, the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet no.14. As in the case of Mozart on our first recording, we wanted to present two different atmospheres with two quartets by the same composer.
‘This journey through time sheds a new light on the later works, because the process of getting to know the young Franz Schubert naturally means deepening our knowledge of his language, but also allows us to refine our appropriation of the style, sound and articulation specific to him. ‘In Quartet no.10, we tried to achieve purity in our playing, a crystalline sound that allows the music to unfold in the most fluid and natural way, keeping in mind the intimacy of the family living room for which these pages were written.
‘In no.14, more tormented, brusquer, more intense, we attempt to pay homage to the work’s symphonic dimension, and to its most sombre, most violent asperities. ‘Two sides to one man: the bright and dark faces of Schubert.’
Quatuor Van Kuijk © Outhere Music