Healing Music

The decade of 1820's was undoubtedly an exciting period for the musicophiles of Vienna. Mature and isolated from the rest of the people due to his profound deafness, Ludwig van Beethoven turns almost exclusively to his favorite string quartet, thus creating unprecedentedly complex and beautiful works. His big admirer, Franz Schubert, of assured recognition through his excellent songs, enriches the chamber music repertoire with some of his most important works. In 1824, Schubert composes his quartet No. 13 in A minor to be called "the Rosamunde quartet" due to the melody used in the second movement, taken from the homonymous scenic music. In 1825, Beethoven presented his quartet No. 15, also in A minor, the third movement of which, “Song of Thanksgiving to the Deity from a convalescent in the Lydian mode”, is a sincere confession from the bottom of the great composer's heart, following a serious health problem he had faced.