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String Quartets (Schumann)

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The three string quartets by Robert Schumann were composed in 1842. They are:

Contents

  • String Quartet No. 1, Op. 41 No. 1 in A minor
  • String Quartet No. 2, Op. 41 No. 2 in F
  • String Quartet No. 3, Op. 41 No. 3 in A

    • Background and first performance

    The quartets Op. 41 are Schumann's only string quartets, and were composed after studying the quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He had sketched some ideas for quartets a few years before 1842, but they had been abandoned; in February of that year he considered again writing quartets.

    Because of depression he was unable to compose for a period; eventually on 4 June he started work on the first quartet, and he finished the third quartet on 22 June. They were first performed on 13 September, as a present for his wife Clara on her 23rd birthday.

    They were first published in 1843 by Breitkopf & Härtel, and dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn.

    String Quartet No. 1

    1. Andante espressivo — Allegro
    2. Scherzo: Presto
    3. Adagio
    4. Allegro

    String Quartet No. 2

    1. Allegro vivace
    2. Andante quasi variazioni
    3. Scherzo: Presto
    4. Finale: Allegro molto vivace

    String Quartet No. 3

    1. Andante espressivo — Allegro molto moderato
    2. Assai agitato
    3. Adagio molto
    4. Finale: Allegro molto vivace

    References

    String Quartets (Schumann) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA