A little death, an innocent maiden... program notes from the dark side.

Admittedly, our October 2026 program notes did highlight a propensity of sad artists. Our apologies for bringing down the room. Still, probably none of us should be surprised that pieces about death, madness and melancholy are born from people who aren’t feeling like beaming rays of sunshine, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden is no exception. 

Before we get into all the details, it is worth mentioning that this quartet marks an important shift for Schubert - away from the Classical-era models of Mozart and Haydn - and into the emotionally charged realm of the Romantics. It wasn’t published until 3 years after Schubert’s death, but when it was finally made public it was greatly admired by composers like Schumann, Dvorak, and Brahms. Gustav Mahler liked it so much that he orchestrated (made an orchestral version of…) the work. Since then, this quartet has remained one of the most played and loved pieces in the repertoire.

It's also worth mentioning that "Death and the Maiden" has been a much-used theme in visual art since the 1500's, and Some of the images are truly horrible. It's not just music! Anyway, back to the Schubert - here’s how it came about…

In 1817, Schubert wrote a song called Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden). (And just to be extra clear, the term “song” is used here because this first work was written for voice. And piano. In the rule-ridden world that is classical music, unless something is written to actually sing, we avoid using “song” and often use the term “piece”.) ANYWAY, Schubert wrote this song. The text he used was written by the German poet Matthias Claudius in 1774. Here is a translation (by Malcom Wren).

The girl:

Get away! Oh, get away!

Go away, savage skeleton!

I am still young, go away love!

And don’t bother me.

Death:

Give me your hand, you beautiful, tender image!

I am a friend, and I have not come to punish.

Cheer up! I am not savage,

You are going to sleep gently in my arms!

Fun, no? So Schubert set this text in 1817. Then, in 1824, (while feeling really sick and perhaps knowing he was dying, and also in the midst of financial ruin), he returned to it.

Schubert took part of the piano accompaniment from the song, and used it to build a set of variations that became the 2nd movement of his string quartet # 14. Thus the name and the connection. 

But it’s not just the second movement that is rather death-y. Remember our apology for being so grim? Perhaps understandably, given his situation, Schubert did lean into the “death and sadness” part quite a bit.  While there isn’t a program (a specific story) to this work, the whole thing is pretty dark. The first movement is scary. The last movement is a tarantella, which is an old dance from Italy that historical myth tells us was created as the only cure for a venomous spider bite - it’s either dance or die. Or possibly dance until you die. And we've already discussed the second movement.

For those who need to take a breath, we do get a bit of a respite from all the death and destruction in the middle of the 3rd movement. Our advice is to enjoy it while it lasts. Just like life. You’re welcome!