String Quintet (Schubert) - Analysis and Discussion

Analysis and Discussion

The work is the only full-fledged string quintet in Schubert's oeuvre. It consists of four movements:

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. Andante sostenuto
4. Allegretto

It stands out for its somewhat unconventional instrumentation, employing two cellos instead of the customary two violas, the example set by Mozart Schubert, like Luigi Boccherini before him, replaced the second viola with a second cello for richness in the lower register. However, Schubert's use of the second cello is very different from Boccherini's, who uses the additional cello to create an additional viola line.

In common with other late works (e.g., the Symphony in C major, D. 944, the Piano sonata in B-flat major, D. 960, etc.), the opening movement is broadly expansive, accounting for more than one third of the total length. The second movement is in three-part ABA (ternary) form. The outer sections, in E major, are of an otherworldly tranquility. The central section is intensely turbulent; it breaks in on the tranquility almost cruelly, in the unrelated key of F minor. When the opening music returns, there is a running 32nd-note passage in the second cello which seems to have been motivated by the turbulence that came before it. In the last three measures of the movement, Schubert somehow contrives to tie the entire movement together harmonically with a quick modulation to the F minor of the middle section and an immediate return to E major. The Scherzo is symphonic and large-scaled, with the open strings of the lower instruments exploited in an innovative manner to create a volume of sound seemingly beyond the capabilities of five stringed instruments. The middle section (or trio) of this movement is an unearthly slow march that seems to predict the sound world of Gustav Mahler. The last movement is an exuberant rondo with clear Hungarian influences.

While it was thought by earlier critics to lack the polish appropriate to a work of high-classical art music, it has grown steadily in reputation. Current consensus holds that the Quintet represents a high point in the entire chamber repertoire;

The work is regarded as deeply sublime, with moments of unique transcendental beauty. It incorporates many unusual technical features, including the final two notes: the flat supertonic and the tonic, played forte in all parts.

The second movement's plaintive mood makes it popular as background music for pensive or nocturnal scenes in film. Examples include Nocturne Indien, Conspiracy, The Human Stain, and Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. Also, Episode 21 from the Inspector Morse television series (Dead on Time) draws extensively from this quintet, as do certain episodes in Desmond Morris's BBC series The Human Animal.