Schubert
Quartetto di Cremona

Quartetto di Cremona

Cristiano Gualco, violin

Paolo Andreoli, violin

Simone Gramaglia, viola

Giovanni Scaglione, cello

F. Schubert (1797-1828)

String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”

Celebration of 25 Years of Career

40’ | Ticket €15

Trame Sonore is honoured to welcome the Quartetto di Cremona, which has chosen Trame Sonore to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary — a milestone that bears witness to a rare artistic affinity, cultivated on some of the world’s most prestigious stages.

For the occasion, one of the most internationally renowned string quartets presents an absolute masterpiece of the repertoire: String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 “Der Tod und das Mädchen” by Franz Schubert. Composed in 1824 and published posthumously, the quartet takes its title from the celebrated Lied based on a poem by Matthias Claudius, from which Schubert derives a motivic cell that permeates the entire work.

The opening Allegro, in D minor, begins with a fortissimo unison of the four instruments: a forceful incipit that immediately immerses the listener in the tragic atmosphere of the piece, built upon the contrast between a dark and energetic first theme and a second, more lyrical and expansive one. The Andante con moto is a theme and variations taking on the character of a funeral march in G minor; in the fourth variation, the tonality suddenly opens into the major mode, in a moment of suspended, resigned sweetness that weighs upon the entire quartet. The rhythmically restless Scherzo introduces a more cantabile Trio before giving way to the final Presto: a spectral tarantella in rondo-sonata form rushing headlong toward a tragic Prestissimo.

This is music that reflects Schubert’s meditations on approaching death, suspended between dramatic tension and acceptance, and which the Quartetto di Cremona approaches with profound depth. From the opening bow strokes to the feverish concluding dance, the listening experience becomes a breathless emotional journey.

Text by Bianca Cimmino and Antonio Pio Caliendo