The
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde
Quartet), D. 804, Op. 29, was written by Franz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
between February and March 1824. It dates roughly to the same time as his monumental Death and the Maiden Quartet, emerging around three years after his previous attempt to write for the string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
genre, the Quartettsatz
that he never finished.
Schubert dedicated the work to SchuppanzighIgnaz Schuppanzigh November 20, 1776 – March 2, 1830, was a violinist, friend and teacher of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in particular, the late string quartets. The Razumovsky...
, who served as the first violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
ist of the string quartet appointed by BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
.
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The
String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde
Quartet), D. 804, Op. 29, was written by Franz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
between February and March 1824. It dates roughly to the same time as his monumental Death and the Maiden Quartet, emerging around three years after his previous attempt to write for the string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
genre, the Quartettsatz
that he never finished.
Schubert dedicated the work to SchuppanzighIgnaz Schuppanzigh November 20, 1776 – March 2, 1830, was a violinist, friend and teacher of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in particular, the late string quartets. The Razumovsky...
, who served as the first violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
ist of the string quartet appointed by BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
. Schuppanzigh himself played in the premiere performance which took place on March 14, 1824.
The quartet consists of four movements which last around 30 minutes in total.
Allegro ma non troppo
Andante
Menuetto – Allegretto – Trio
Allegro moderato
The first movement opens in a way reminiscent of the melancholic theme from one of Schubert's earliest songs,
Gretchen am SpinnradeGretchen am Spinnrade is a selection of text from Goethe's Faust. It was set by Schubert in 1814, Op.2, D.118, and was his first successful lied...
. It is the second movement, however, which has lent the Quartet its nickname, being based on a theme from the incidental music for RosamundeRosamunde can refer to:* The German name for the Beer Barrel Polka* Music by Franz Schubert:**Rosamunde incidental music**Rosamunde String Quartet **Impromptu in B flat major, Op. 142 No. 3...
(a similar theme appears in the Impromptu in B-flat written three years later). The minuet is inspired by the melody of another song by Schubert, Die Götter Griechenlands, D. 677.