Quartettsatz (Schubert)

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The Quartettsatz (Movement for String Quartet) in C minor, D. 703 was composed by Franz Schubert in December 1820. It represents the first movement, the Allegro assai, of a Twelfth String Quartet which Schubert never completed. In addition to the opening movement, Schubert also managed to write the first forty bars of a second movement marked Andante.

The other compositions which Schubert began during that year were similarly abandoned, for the artist was experiencing a severe identity crisis at the time. Nevertheless, the Quartettsatz was the forerunner of the late string quartets for which Schubert is best remembered. Four years after the Quartettsatz, Schubert returned to the genre to write the Rosamunde Quartet, which was followed by the Death and the Maiden, and the Fifteenth. The Quartettsatz received its posthumous premiere on March 1, 1867 in Vienna. A typical performance lasts around 10 minutes.