International Mendelssohn Festival

Strong feelings

»Tiefer Sehnsucht heil’ges Bangen; Will in schön’re Welten langen; Möchte füllen dunklen Raum; Mit allmächt’gem Liebestraum,« Franz Schubert wrote in his 1823 poem »Mein Gebet« (My prayer). Few other composers describe existential feelings as directly as Schubert. His music is an enigma, with life and death, light and darkness closely interwoven. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major was to be his last work of chamber music. In terms of form, the composer makes use once more of sonata form for the first movement, already acknowledging his role model Beethoven, whose String Trio Op. 9 No. 3 opens this concert.