Schubert seems to be
particularly well served in the CD catalogues
at the moment and I for one am happy
with the wide choice available in his
chamber music. Only last November I
was delighted to review
a four disc box set of the Schubert
Late String Quartets and the String
Quintet in C from The Lindsays on Sanctuary
Classics Resonance RSB 403. As most
of the scores from the Lindsays set
are duplicated with those on this Brilliant
Classics release I will reuse some of
wording from that review. These accounts
from the Brandis were recorded in 1995
and originally released to considerable
acclaim on the now defunct Nimbus label.
The String Quartet
No. 13 in A minor ‘Rosamunde’ D.804
was the only one of Schubert’s four
string quartets published in his lifetime.
Composed in the shadow of a fatal illness
the brooding String Quartet No. 13
from 1824 also happens to be one of
the greatest ever written. Known as
the ‘Rosamunde’ the work reuses
themes from the incidental music to
the unsuccessful play. This serves throughout
as a pained memory of happier times.
I would describe the comforting performance
by the Brandis Quartet in this single
movement quartet as refined and
fittingly poetic. I loved the playing
in the well-judged closing movement
allegro moderato with its real
sense of drama. My ideal account
is the version on period instruments
from the eminent Quatuor Mosaïques
for their very special playing where
the personality of each member comes
across so engagingly (Auvidis Astrée
E 8580). The remarkable and sublimely
emotional second movement andante
is played with such sensitivity and
poetry; an intensely moving experience.
Being familiar with the interpretation
from Quatuor Mosaïques I can fully
understand how influential music writer
H.L. Mencken stated that this music
was the proof he needed for the existence
of God.
The celebrated String
Quartet No. 14 in D minor ‘Death and
the Maiden’ D.810 is a fierce work
with the theme of death at its heart.
Dating from 1824 it was published posthumously.
The title ‘Death and the Maiden’
stems from the use of a song which
appears in the second movement andante.
The Brandis perform the score tenderly
and most expressively in what seems
like a labour of love. The players are
particularly poignant and concentrated
in the andante which is remarkably
well performed. My premier recommendation
for this work is from the Italian
Quartet on Philips 446 163-2, an account
recorded in 1965 and remarkable for
its sheer technical excellence and impressive
imagination.
The String Quartet
No.12 in C minor, ‘Quartettsatz’
D.703 of 1820 comes just after the famous
Quintet in A major ‘The Trout’,
op.114 and shortly before the equally
famous Symphony No. 8 in B minor
‘Unfinished’. Known as the‘Quartettsatz’
the work is rather a curiosity since
it consists of a single movement. There
is reason to believe that Schubert intended
this music as a first movement to a
full-length quartet. Why the other movements
were not written has never been satisfactorily
explained. Conceived in a single ten
minute allegro assai the ‘Quartettsatz’
is one of Schubert’s finest chamber
compositions. In this C minor
work the Brandis give a mainly delicate
and nicely judged account that contains
a special warmth. In a more thrilling
performance the Lindsays emphasise the
exciting and dramatic power and wide
ranging ideas of the score. They are
my first choice.
Composed in 1826 in
only eight days the String Quartet
No. 15 in G major, D.887 is less
well known than its close predecessor
the‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet,
yet the work is hardly less remarkable.
Schubert biographer R.H. Schauffler
remarks on several key features in the
score notably the forward-looking modernity
that surpasses even that of ‘Death
and the Maiden’, the rhapsodic quality
of certain themes, the characteristic
variation between major and minor and
a more marked orchestral quality. The
Brandis Quartet convey high quality
and heartfelt playing throughout. In
the second movement andante their
performance is extremely expressive
in feeling and is most affectionately
communicated. However, in this work
the wonderfully expressive account from
the Italian Quartet from 1977 on Philips
446 163-2 has few peers and is my preferred
version.
The competition is
tremendously fierce and I would look
outside this Brilliant Classics reissue
as my first choice recordings in each
work. However, I really admire these
heartfelt accounts for their warm expressiveness
and sumptuous textures. Perhaps these
heart-on-sleeve interpretations from
the Brandis Quartet may be just a touch
too cloying for some tastes. I certainly
fully intend to revisit this set in
the future.
Michael Cookson
Brandis Quartet 
