Schubert: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 9

Description

.com D. 32 is Schubert's third String Quartet, composed at age 15. It's not a work of genius, but it's surprisingly appealing and includes an elaborate, lengthy finale that points towards his later works. By the time he wrote D. 353, he was 19 and already the creator of masterpieces. This isn't quite one of them, but it's mature Schubert and thoroughly engaging. The Overture, Schubert's first chamber work, is an imitation of music by Cherubini, very well done for a 14-year-old. We could have done without the fragmentary minute's worth of incomplete music. This was supposed to be the final volume of the series, but it will be followed by at least one more, including the Trout Quintet. --Leslie Gerber