Robert Schumann – String Quartet in a, Op. 41/1

Robert and Clara Schumann. The 1847 personalized lithograph.
Robert and Clara Schumann. The 1847 personalized lithograph.

Until 1840, Schumann published only works for piano. Schumann and Clara Wieck, an exceptional concert pianist, married in September, 1840, and then in 1841 alone Schumann composed well over a hundred songs, as well as two symphonies.

The Op. 41 quartets were composed in 1842. Critical opinion has tended to be rather dismissive of Schumann’s quartets. But I don’t think that much matters. The works have merits that resist dismissal.

The adagio, for example, of the first quartet not only sounds well to the ear, but also sounds out the analytical facet of intellect. The construction is simple, but simplicity that has worth is hard to achieve. In this movement, the first violin puts forth the melodic material, the second violin harmonizes it, the viola sings with exquisite counterpoint always off the pulse of the 4/4 metre, and the ‘cello supports the whole. This texture changes from time to time as some or all of the parts are interchanged.

The quartet opens with a fine andante espressivo that immediately catches the attention of the ear. Schumann dedicated the work to Mendelssohn, whose own quartets favoured expressive sections in slower time.

It was Schumann who, while in Vienna in 1839, discovered Schubert’s ninth symphony.