Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
String Quartet in C minor “Quartettsatz” D703 (1820) [9:39]
String Quartet in C minor “Quartettsatz” D703 Andante (completed Brian Newbould) [8:33]
String Quartet in G major D887 (1826) [55:53]
Fitzwilliam Quartet
rec. 5-7 January 2020, St Martin’s East Woodhay, Newbury Hill, UK
LINN CKD673 [74:05]
The legacy of Schubert is littered with tantalising fragments and stray movements that the composer abandoned as his muse moved on. The indefatigable Brian Newbould has spent a lifetime getting these musical orphans into a performable shape and one of the fruits of his efforts makes an unexpected addition to this recording of Schubert string quartets by the Fitzwilliam Quartet. Whilst I have long adored the single movement so called Quartettsatz, I was unaware of a companion Andante that Schubert began but left unfinished. Newbould does his customary excellent and unobtrusive job of filling it out. The issue with all such completions is whether or not the resulting piece justifies itself musically. To my ears, this Andante is a mere curiosity which enables us to hear where the composer was thinking of taking the work. It adds very little to body of Schubert’s music and, sad to say, it is not really that hard to hear why he lost interest.
The original Quartettsatz movement is another matter and is one of Schubert’s most successful sonata form movements. It breathes the same air as the opening movement of the Unfinished symphony. This is a less intense and frenetic take on the Quartetsatz than many. It is certainly less frenzied than the recent recording by Quatuor Arod.
This less ferocious take on the Quartetsatz alerts us to the Fitzwilliams’ approach to the main work on the disc, the G major quartet. This is a deep delve into the otherworldly core of this masterpiece. Anyone impatient with Schubertian ‘heavenly length’ had better go elsewhere. Tempi are on the broad side and the first half repeat in the opening movement stretches it to a Mozart symphony length 21 minutes (this adds around 7 minutes compared to most old classic versions). I should stress that all of this is harmonious with the Fitzwilliam’s vision of the piece. This is Schubert the mystic staring deep into the au delà in a way that no other composer ever has, before or since. The Fitzwilliam Quartet aren’t interested in showy dramatic moments for their own sake but have their eyes on the overall arc of the movement. It is one of the best accounts I know of this profound movement.
The real eye opener for me was the performance of the slow movement. I should warn that what I am about to say may amount to heresy but I have always found the remaining three movements of the G major quartet a distinct falling off in terms of inspiration after the heights of the opening movement. Worse I have often thought it a pity that Schubert didn’t leave us that opening movement as a stand-alone like the Quartetsatz. The Fitzwilliam have shown me the error of my ways. The slow movement emerges as virtually an expressionist psychodrama that, more importantly, grapples with the darker undercurrents of the opening movement. Rather than a losing of the thread, it becomes an intensification of it. There is real pain in this music as played here and, strangely for Schubert, there is precious little consolation. It is as if, in playing down the drama (relatively speaking) in the first movement, the Fitzwilliam’s have ramped it up here. Heart stopping moments are almost too numerous to mention. I was gripped from first moment to last. How could I have previously thought of this music as Schubert going through the motions? I do appreciate that such an opinion might call into question my credentials to review this music but when I turn to versions by the Chilingirian or Amadeus Quartets I am back thinking this is second rate Schubert!
The last two movements are Schubert fixating on a rhythmical figure. I imagine that Beethoven’s influence loomed over this compositional tick. The Fitzwilliams do not convince me that the outer sections of the scherzo are much more than run of the mill Schubert but I was pleasantly surprised by the similarity in mood they found between the trio and the more profound moments of the first movement.
The Fitzwilliams take the finale at a noticeably slower pace than either the Chilingirians or the Amadeus. What this loses in terms of the sudden dramatic mood swings those other two quartets find in this movement, the new recording gains in terms of forward momentum. Partly this a matter of moving from the short breathed two or four bar phrases of a faster tempo to broader sentences. The lunges from one mood to another become less extreme and start to form longer phrases. The character of the music becomes less neurotic which I think changes its mood for the better. Again the links with the opening movement become more audible. There is, for instance, much greater variety of light and shade. The mood shifts from manic to an underlying immense sadness. Rather than the frenzy we get in the Belcea Quartet’s 2009 reading, the end of the movement acquires a tragic grandeur with the final closing G major phrases full of pathos and even a hint of the great beyond. There is a lot to be said for a wilder view of this movement but I found the Fitzwilliams’ view more convincing and ultimately more satisfying. Played fast the rhythmic patterns become fidgety and frankly a bit irritating in a way that they don’t in this new recording.
Overall what I enjoyed most about this version of the G major quartet is the unity of vision and purpose the Fitzwilliam Quartet bring to the entire work. Even the massively elongated first movement makes sense in that it is revealed not as one quarter of the whole work but almost half of it to which the other three movements are responses. This makes for a deeply satisfying listening experience which has made me reevaluate my view of the work. It is a hugely impressive recording.
David McDade
