Franz Schubert : Scherzo from "Death and the Maiden" String Quartet in Dm

Among many String Quartets written by Franz Schubert, one of his most famous is called "Death and the Maiden". Much of its music is quite dark, severe and rhythmic. Here we feature the decidedly rhythmic Scherzo (3rd movement) from that quartet. As well as the full score, the individual parts for this movement can be downloaded and printed using these links: Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello.

"Death and the Maiden" has historically been a popular narrative and artistic idea, which has in recent years given its name to a Roman Polanski film and a play by Ariel Dorfman. Schubert had earlier composed a song called "Death and the Maiden" whose text is by Matthias Claudius. It is in the form of a dialogue between a young woman and Death, who promises her, "You shall sleep softly in my arms". The second movement of this quartet is a set of variations based on the theme from the song which is why it bears this title.