Luogo e data di registrazione		Théâtre Vevey, Vevey (Svizzera) - 12-17 dicembre 1965
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Vittorio Negri | Tony Buczynski
	Edizione LP		Philips | 6503 115 | 1 LP
	Prima Edizione CD		Vedi link alla prima edizione in long playing.
	Note		La collana "Musica da Camera" della Philips riedita negli anni '80 alcune registrazioni del Quartetto Italiano.

Schubert the song writer overflowss into all the forms in which he expressed his ideas. He used complete song melodies three times in other forms, and figurations from the piano accompaniments often reappear in a string part in totally different context. Although the D minor String Quartet acquired its name from the variations on the song "Der Tod und das Mädchen" which form the second movement, the whole quartet seems to live under the gloomy shadows cast by Schubert's two "Death" images. In "Der Tod und das Mädchen" and "Erlkönig," Schubert paints two different pictures of Death. In the first he it is compelling figure urging the maiden to come to him in tones like the tolling of a  great bell. In the second song he is a furious hunter, galopping in wild pursuit of his victims. Having decided to include the first image in the D minor Quartet, the second consciously or subeen seriously must have been awakened in Schubert's mind for its presence is strongly felt too, especially in the first and last movements. The work was begain in 1824 but not completed until January 1826. The first movement opens with an angry rhythmic figure that pushin the music forward towards a melting second subject in thirds and sixths. However the deathly triplets are still present in the murmurrings of the viola. The music moves on in constant development which almost hides the recapitulation. The coda attains frightening speed bat at the last moment the pace suspences and the music dies away quietly. In the slow movement the Lied melody is stated in quiet bell like chords in G minor. The first three variations gradually diminish the time values to semiquavers while the fourth in G major elaborates the melody in triplets. The late variation returns to G minor and is followed by a coda which echoes the melody without actually quoting in. The Scherzo reverts to the furious D minor mood of the first movement, relieved by a more tranquil trio in D major. The Finale is isneasy and sinister, with an indirect reference to the melody of the line "meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön" from "Erlkönig." The second subject temporarily dispels this need as it bursts in after a frightening silence, only so be swept away later by the galloping triplets. Although composed earlier in December 1820, this Quartet Movement in C minor inhabits the same world as the D minor Quartet. Like the "Unfinished" Symphony it begins with a tremolando figure which persists to a second theme in G major. With typical luck of respect for convention Schubert alters the order of things in the recapitulation so that it seems to begin with a transition theme in B flat major. C minor is not reached until the coda and there is barely tune to resummon the second subject in C major. When the manuscript came into Brahms's possession he found that Schubert had begun a second movement in A flat of which only 41 bars remain. Why the quartet was never finished is still a mystery. Jennifer Standage

Illustration: Egon Schiele (1890-1918) "Der Tod und das Mädchen" (Österreichische Galerie, Wien)