Works for a String Quartet
“Death and the Maiden” is one of Franz Schubert’s most gripping and emotional works, written during a time of personal turmoil. The quartet’s name is inspired by Schubert’s earlier song in which a young woman pleads with Death to spare her life. Death responds with a chilling calmness, assuring her that he is a friend who will bring peace. Through its dramatic contrasts, haunting melodies, and moments of tenderness, the quartet captures the tension between fear and acceptance, making it a profound meditation on mortality and the human condition.

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Program

JESSIE MONTGOMERY Source Code for string quartet

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Art of Fugue

7. Contrapunctus 7 a 4 per Augment et Diminut

FRANZ SCHUBERT Quartet for Strings in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”