Episode 34: Schubert at the Gates of Heaven

On this episode, a complete performance of Franz Schubert’s so-called “two-cello” string quintet – the String Quintet in C Major, D. 956. It’s a piece so sublime that pianist Artur Rubinstein called the second movement “the arrival at the gates of heaven.” We’ll hear three different ensembles bring Schubert’s final work to life, all before capacity houses on Heifetz stages.

This Episode’s Playlist

 

Franz Schubert: Impromptu in E-flat, D. 899
Lynne Mackey, piano
Heifetz Institute Recording | 11.06.2020

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major, D. 956:
I. Allegro ma non troppo
Borromeo Quartet: Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Kristopher Tong, violin | Mai Motobuchi, viola | Yeesun Kim, cello
w/ Ralph Kirshbaum, cello
First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 08.09.2019

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major, D. 956:
II. Adagio
Yezu Woo, violin | Yeri Roh, violin | Sung Jin Lee, viola | Mo Mo, cello | Zi Wang, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.22.2015

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major, D. 956:
III. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. Andante sostenuto
Mark Kaplan, violin | Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Ralph Kirshbaum, cello | Timothy Eddy, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 07.28.2017

Franz Schubert: String Quintet in C Major, D. 956:
IV. Allegretto
Borromeo Quartet: Nicholas Kitchen, violin | Kristopher Tong, violin | Mai Motobuchi, viola | Yeesun Kim, cello
w/ Ralph Kirshbaum, cello
First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 08.09.2019

Go Deeper

• Watch the complete livestream of this performance from our Heifetz Rubato Virtual Concert series here. 
• The legendary Artur Rubinstein discusses Schubert’s quintet, among other things.  View here
• Violinist Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarneri Quartet has some fascinating insight’s on Schubert’s quintet in this essay called “A Heavenly Length.” Read it here.