Schubert’s only string quintet (D. 956) was written in 1828, a matter of months before his death. Unlike the Mozart quintets, it’s scored for string quartet plus an extra cello (as distinct from Mozart’s extra viola).
It’s an astonishing work; in it the composer creates a music of other worlds and other seas, with a transcendent slow movement that moves from complete serenity to darkness and then back to the flickering light of a troubled peace. It is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.
01:00 – 1.Allegro ma non troppo
20:29 – 2. Adagio
35:46 – 3. Scherzo(Presto)/
39:36 Trio(Andante sostenuto)
45:24 – 4. Allegretto
The Art of Listening 