String Quintet (Schubert)

String Quintet
by Franz Schubert
Schubert in 1827 (oil on canvas, by Anton Depauly)
KeyC major
CatalogueD. 956
Opus163
Commissioned byFerdinand Troyer
Composed1828
Performed1850
Published1853
PublisherC. A. Spina
Durationc. 53 minutes
Movements4

Franz Schubert's final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major (D. 956, Op. posth. 163) is sometimes called the "Cello Quintet" because it is scored for a standard string quartet with a second cello rather than a second viola, which is more usual.

The piece was composed in 1828 and completed just two months before the composer's death. The first public performance of the piece did not occur until 1850, and publication occurred three years later in 1853. Schubert's only full-fledged string quintet, it has been called "sublime" and "extraordinary", been said to possess "bottomless pathos", and is generally regarded as Schubert's finest chamber work as well as one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music.

A typical performance lasts no more than an hour.

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