String Quartet No. 13 in a minor, “Rosemunde,” D. 804

Composer: SCHUBERT, Franz
  • Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in a minor, “Rosemunde,” was written in 1824, the same year he wrote his “Death and the Maiden” quartet.
    • Like “Death and the Maiden,” Schubert dedicated his “Rosemunde” quartet to Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the first violinist of a professional Viennese quartet that had been closely associated with performing the works of Beethoven. Schuppanzigh also premiered String Quartet No. 13.
  • String Quartet No. 13 consists of four movements:
    1. Allegro ma non troppo
    2. Andante
    3. Menuetto. Allegretto
    4. Allegro moderato1
  • The nickname “Rosemunde” comes from the fact that the theme of the second movement, “Andante,” is taken from Schubert’s incidental music for a play of the same name, written the previous year.
  • Fun/ sad fact – String Quartet No. 13 was the only one of Schubert’s chamber works published in his lifetime.2

Sources

  1. “String Quartet in A minor, D.804 (Schubert, Franz),” IMSLP, accessed March 28, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_in_A_minor,_D.804_(Schubert,_Franz).
  2. Herbert Glass, “String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804 (‘Rosamunde’),” Hollywood Bowl, accessed March 28, 2025, https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/3695/string-quartet-no-13-in-a-minor-d-804-rosamunde.

Cut IDs

40848 10856