Schubert's early string quartets are remarkable for their structural refinement and imaginative handling of instrumental resources. In the Quartet in C major, D32, Schubert's second complete essay in the medium, orchestral effects such as extreme dynamic contrasts and unison passages, reflect the 15-year-old composer's experience in the school orchestra at the Imperial Stadtkonvikt. In their new recording, the Artis Quartet draw on the innate expressiveness of this music, handling effectively the elegance of the aria-like slow movement and the richness of Schubert's harmonic invention in the Quartet's C minor conclusion.
The Artis's greater flexibility in the more mature Death and the Maiden Quartet, by comparison, offers clear evidence of the development of Schubert's musical language. The change of direction, signalled by the Quartet's strongly-profiled opening, draws an appropriate response from the players. For many, the heart of this Quartet is the variation-form second movement which gives the Quartet its name, and the Artis's interpretation, with its close attention to detail throughout, stresses this movement's sectional form through distinctive characterization of the individual variations. By contrast, the Alban Berg Quartet on EMI adopt a more leisurely pace in the variations, which demonstrates their broader structural function, to create a stronger sense of overall coherence.
There is not a great deal to choose between these two versions, which offer equally valid yet complementary interpretations. However, some may prefer the Artis who include the D minor Quartet's first movement exposition repeat. Balance and recorded sound are excellent on both discs.'