Schubert’s late String Quintet in C, D.956 is one of the undoubted masterpieces of the transition from the Classical to the the Romantic, though it errs very much on the Romantic side of things.
From the expansive opening movement with its Schubertian lyricism, through the sublime Adagio – an emotional storm at its heart – and the Scherzo and its strange Trio, to the Hungarian strutting of the final Allegretto, the composer not only demonstrates his genius for melody but, in his constant exploration of novel key relationships, particularly between the home key and the one a semitone above (mostly C and D-flat) he sets out to establish a new tonal dynasty – and , of course, being Schubert he succeeds!!

00:00 Allegro ma non troppo
15:12 Adagio
29:33 Scherzo: Presto. Trio. Andante sostenuto
38:18 Finale: Allegretto
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Iaago
