Schumann: String Quartet in A minor, Op.41 No.1

In 1842 Robert Schumann wrote to Clara complaining about the increasing limitations of the piano as a vessel for his ideas, and the need to attack different instruments and genres. What followed was a spectacular year of inspiration that yielded all of his most famous chamber works including the set of three string quartets, of which the A minor is the first. He had studied the great quartets of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn in depth, simultaneously building up a well of ideas that exploded onto the page in record time. The A minor took just a week to be sketched and formed, and three months and much rehearsal later, recieved its premiere as a gift to Clara on her 23rd birthday.
The Merel Quartet performed this to a sold out crowd on a warm summer evening at the Music at Plush festival.

Tags

1, cello, classical, Music at Plush, viola, violin, 2009, Schumann, strings, Mary Ellen Woodside, Meesun Hong, Alexander Besa, Rafael Rosenfeld, Merel Quartet, and Opus 41