Schubert's Guitar Quartet

Author(s): Reinhard Van Hoorickx

Source: Revue belge de Musicologie / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap , 1977,
Vol. 31 (1977), pp. 111-135
Published by: Societe Belge de Musicologie

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3686191

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 SCHUBERT'S GUITAR QUARTET

Fr. REINHARD VAN HOORICKX O.F.M.

(Ghent)

FOREWORD

When Otto Erich DEUTSCH compiled his famous Thematic Catalogue of

Schubert's Work (<< a work of a lifetime >> as he used to say), he was well aware of
the fact that it was not < finished and done>>; that it would have to be completed,
corrected and revised in due time. All this for the simple reason that almost every
year supplementary information is found, unknown facts come to light, someti-
mes unexpected findings of manuscripts (either autographs or early copies) are
made (1). Only one year after the publication of the Catalogue, 0. E. Deutsch
wrote already a substantial article for Music & Letters with corrections and
additions (2).
In a former article Schubert's Trio .. Die Advokaten >> (D. 37) I have tried to
prove that it is not an arrangement of a work by Anton Fischer, as it is stated in
the Catalogue, but a genuine Schubert composition (3). In his comment on this
Trio, 0. E. Deutsch wrote: The history of this work may be compared with the
Guitar Trio by Matiegka, arranged as a quartet by Schubert in 1814, but never
published by him (D. 96). (Thematic Catalogue, page 16).
If << Die Advokaten >> and the so-called << Guitar Quartet» have any point in
common, it certainly is the fact that right from the beginning until now, there has
been a lot of confusion, wrong information and inaccuracy about it!
In Deutsch's Thematic Catalogue the Guitar Quartet is described on page 46
under Nr. 96 as follows:

Wenzel Matiegka's Notturno for flute, viola and guitar, Op. 21, arranged by Schubert as a
Quartet for Flute, Viola, Guitar and Violoncello (called Schubert's Guitar Quartet). 26th February
1814.
[here follows in the Thematic Catalogue the incipit of the second Trio from the Minuet]
Ms. William Matheson, Olten (Switzerland) (4).
Ist PF. [i.e. first public performance] 6th June 1925, Schloss Briihl near Cologne.
First Edition. 1926, Drei Masken Verlag, Munich (ed. by Georg Kinsky).

(1) See for instance the articles by Maurice J. E. BROWN: Schubert. Discoveries of the last Decade, in -The
Musical Quarterly,, New York, vol. XLVII, n° 3, July 1961, pp. 293-314; and vol. LVII, N° 3, July 1971,
pp. 351-378.
(2) See: -Music & Letters», Oxford, vol. XXXIV, n° 1, Januari 1953, pp. 26-32, The Schubert Cata-
logue: Corrections and Additions by Otto Erich Deutsch. - According to a note in Maurice J. E.
Brown's personal papers, Deutsch received most of his information for this article from him.
(3) See: , Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap / Revue belge de Musicologie », vol. XXV, 1971, pp.
46-52.
(4) Although the manuscript is in private possession, photostats of it can be seen at the Photogram-Archives
(Nationalbibliothek), Vienna: Ph.A. 1032.

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 [In smaller type follows a note:]
Matiegka's trio, dedicated to Johann Karl, Graf Esterhazy, Schubert's later patron, was
published by Artaria & Co., Vienna (no. 1926), in the summer of 1807; the only known copy of
this work is in the possession of Th. Rischel, Copenhagen (5).
The theme of the variations, sometimes attributed to Haydn, is a ,, Standchen>> by Friedrich
Fleischmann. Trio ii [i.e. the second trio] of the Minuet (p. 15 of the printed score) is entirely the
work of Schubert [: this is why the incipit is quoted in the Catalogue]; as for the rest of the work he
merely added a violoncello part to Matiegka's trio for flute, viola and guitar.
Literature: 0. E. Deutsch. Zeitschriftfiir Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig, October 1928; Georg
Kinsky, ditto August 1932.

I. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FINDING (1918)

A first acknowledgement of the work in the musical world, so to speak, was

given in the Zeitschrift fiir Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig, vol. I, December 1918,
pp. 183-188.
In this magazine, Heinrich Kaspar SCHMID (6) wrote an article entitled Franz
Schuberts Neuentdecktes Quartett with the subtitle <<Ein offener Brief, (an open
letter). Dr. Alfred Einstein, the editor of the Zeitschrift gave in a footnote on the
first page a short account of the find and how it was first announced in the Press:

<< Information about the new Schubert-find was given to the public in a notice which in the
following quite informative words appeared in most newspapers: Find of three Schubert Quartets.
(sic!) From Zell-am-See (7) we have received the news that by coincidence, a number of unknown
Schubert-autographs was found on an attic where people were busy clearing away old books and
manuscripts. A cover contained thirty pages (8) with three Quartets (9) which are written in
Schubert's own hand for flute, viola, guitar and bass [recte: violoncello!]. These compositions
show all the excellent qualities of the rich art of the great master. A small yellowed piece of paper
was attached to the manuscript with the short notice «This was written by Franz himselfr.
There is no doubt about the authenticity of the find. Apparently, the manuscript was a gift from
Schubert to one of his close friends, an ancestor of the actual proprietor. (Note from the Editor)>>.

The actual proprietor in 1918 was a Mrs. Marianne FEYERER. As she told
Mr. Schmid, she had already seen the manuscript about twenty years earlier,
shortly after her marriage (1898 ?). However, at that time she was apparently not
interested in the music and she only had taken notice of the small piece of paper
going with it. On the other side it was dated << 1836 >>, and when she had asked her
husband Karl: << Who is this Franz ? >> he had simply answered << probably one of
our relatives>>, without even looking at the manuscript! And that was it.

(5) According to Maurice J. E. Brown it is now at the Royal Library (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) Copenhagen.
This, naturally, refers to the original (first) edition; the Trio by Matiegka has since been reprinted in parts in
a series < Die Gitarre in der Haus- und Kammermusik>> (1800-1840), Nr. 23. Wenzeslav Matiegka. Opus
21, Nottumrno fur F1ote, Viola und Gitarre. Musik Verlag W. Zimmermann, Frankfurt am Main. -
ENGSTR0M & SODRING, Musikforlag, KOBENHAVN, ZM. 299 (1960).
(6) A Bavarian musician and composer (1874-1953).
(7) A small city, about 55 Km. south of Salzburg.
(8) In fact there are thirty-two pages!
(9) There is, of course, only one quartet!

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 Only much later did she notice Schubert's signature on top of the manuscript
and she realized that one of her husband's great-uncles, a certain Ignaz Rosner,
was the person who had attached the little note to the manuscript and was the one
who must have been the « close friend» of Schubert...
Strangely enough, nothing is found about this particular friend of Schubert
in 0. E. Deutsch's books on Schubert: the documentary Biography and the
Memoirs by his friends (10). Schubert, it is true, must have had many friends, and
it is no wonder that not every one of them is mentioned in the Documents.
Besides, it is understandable that a person who would have known Schubert only
occasionally, would claim to be his friend, once Schubert became a celebrity!
At any rate, Ignaz Rosner was (according to Mrs. Feyerer) an employee at
the Ministry of Finance and besides a kind of (modest) artist: he designed small
cards and vignettes for different occasions, some samples of which were still in
Mrs. Feyerer's possession. The fact that he was an artist certainly was a credit for
him! It became almost a commonplace among Schubertians that Schubert would
always ask << Kann er was ? >> (is he able to do anything worthwhile ?) whenever a
new friend would join the circle.
Ignaz Rosner might be a relative of the one whose name is mentioned in
Deutsch's books, namely Franz Rosner (11), a singer (tenor) who sang the Aria of
Prince Azolin which Schubert had composed for the German version of Herold's
Opera << La Clochette >> or << Das Zauberglo6ckchen >> (D. 723).
Understandably, in his article on the subject, Heinrich Kaspar Schmid was
very enthusiastic about the finding, although - as we shall see - he did realize
that there were some problems, at least in connection with the last movement of
the work. Schmid looked into the manuscript on the instigation of a Dr. Fritz
Thumeissen from Munich, who had the intention of buying the precious
document. Schmid had made an appointment with Mrs. Feyerer in order to meet
her in Salzburg, where he would then study the autograph. He was not exactly an
authority on Schubert, but he had seen other Schubert manuscripts before, and
there is indeed no doubt that the autograph shows the wellknown very personal
writing of the seventeen year old master, which - at least in his fair copies -
changed very little in the course of the years. Between 1810 and 1814 Schubert
wrote several quartets (probably ten), but all of them have the regular, i.e. most
usual instrumental structure: two violins, viola and violoncello. It is therefore
strange to find this particular quartet with flute, and above all with the guitar. All
of Schubert's early quartets were apparently written for practical use in the family
circle where he played himself the viola while two of his brothers played the
violins and his father the cello.

(10) 0. E. DEUTSCH, Schubert. A Documentary Biography (Dent, London, 1946) and Schubert. Memoirs by his
Friends (Black, London, 1958) - These two books, the main source of information on Schubert and his
work, are in Schubert-literature usually referred to as the < Documents ,,. - 0. E. Deutsch mentions Ignaz
Rosner and another relative of Mrs. Feyerer in two articles which appeared in 1928. - See further!
(11) According to 0. E. Deutsch, Franz Rosner was born in Hungary and his real name was ROSNIK. (See:
Schubert: A Documentary Biography, pp. 182, 382 and 887; and Schubert: Memoirs by his friends, pp.
24, 119 and 124).

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 It is true that he composed an ensemble in which the guitar took place, a few
months before writing this particular quartet, namely a short Cantata for his
father's nameday (D. 80). However, the reason for this possibly was that he could
not sing at that moment (his voice having broken a few months earlier) and as he
wanted to share in the celebration, he probably accompanied his brothers Ignaz,
Karl and Ferdinand with the guitar. It could well be that he took pleasure in
playing the instrument and that he therefore wished to have a piece ready for use
in the family circle, but it is more likely that it was written for a special occasion
and in particular circumstances.
After a short introduction, Schmid gives a description of the manuscript: it
contains 32 pages (twice four oblong double folios of 16 pages). The first
movement is a <<Moderato >> in G major and has 206 bars on 14 pages; the
time-signature is C or 4/4.
The flute introduces a lovely tune, << somewhat Biedermaier>> says Schmid,
which announces the Sonata-form in a very attractive manner.

Moderato cr e r K 2-r - |

In the way of Haydn, a second theme is brought in on the dominant (D

major) and is first played on the guitar << apparently >>, Schmid says, << to make it
clear from the start that the guitar is by no means an instrument of secundary
importance in the ensemble>>; and when the theme is repeated - again on the
guitar - it is as if the other instruments gently give their approval saying << quite
nice >> and << very good! >>. The development section with its perfect harmony and
surprising five bar introduction is also characteristic for Schubert. (Schmid quotes
here the five introductory bars to explain the point). The main theme returns in
the dominant and the movement ends smoothly.
The second movement is a Minuet in G major in 3/4 time, 32 bars.

f Guitar P

The well-balanced spreading of the voices between the guitar and t

instruments is noticed here at once (Schmid quotes again a few bars to
his point). The first Trio with its gracious dance rhythm forms an en
contrast with the energetic rhythm of full chords in the main part of t

Trio I Guitar

p- f Guitar

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 After a Da Capo a second Trio starts in which the flute plays the main part,
accompanied by the viola and the cello, while the guitar only gives a discrete
chord here and there.

4 Trio II Flut e

The third movement is Lento e patetico in B minor, 9/8 time, 76 bars:

dialogue between the cello and the flute.
5 Lento e patetico _ -

Guitar Cello

Schmid starts his comment: «<Doch die Liebe ist das Triibe (but love is
sorrowful) could be the motto of the movement>>. The cello begins; after eight
bars the cantilene is taken over by the flute, but after three more bars the harmony
modulates through a delicate switch on the upper third towards a diminished
quint. <<To me>>, Schmid says, <<this reveals a noble heart, and the whole
movement betrays not only the true but the entire Schubert! How lovely, for
instance, is the pause on the dominant, where on the background of the bell-like
guitar, first the flute and the viola and then the flute and the cello long for
consolation; how promising is thereafter the second theme that starts in D major
and which is strenghtened in its position by the sixth-chord>>».
A fourth movement like a Moment musical, says Schmid, consists of a first
part in D major, 2/4 time, 24 bars; a second part in D minor (Trio, 16 bars) after
which the first part is repeated, and a Coda which is based on the first part (8
bars). [In the Ms. this movement is called «<Zingara>> or Gipsy-dance].
6 Andantino (viola & cello) Trio

The fifth movement is, unfortunately, not complete; it i

manuscript and breaks off at the end of a page. It is a set o
(Schmid naturally thinks that it is a song by Schubert). An
difficult point in the whole matter: Schmid says the manuscr
indications in connection with a printed score, which sugg
movement, or maybe even the whole work is an arrangeme
printed composition for three instruments (12).

(12) From this it would seem easy to conclude (as 0. E. Deutsch did) that the wh
the whole work) is an arrangement of a Trio which was not written by Schuber
that he did not know enough about Schubert and his work to solve this problem
others.

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 The theme for the variations is a Serenade with the text Madchen, o
schlumm're noch nicht! (Maiden, o do not yet slumber!) in G major 6/8 time, 1
bars.

7 tEndchen - Thema

Instead of the first variation we find the following note in Schubert's

The first variation remains the same; the violoncello tacet.
The second variation is for flute, viola and cello; the guitar remains
The flute plays the melody, one octave higher than the first time, the viola pl
second voice while the cello plays quite complicated figurations.
Instead of the third variation we find the note The third variation is the
second one in the printed score; the cello tacet.
Variation IV: in G major, sempre pianissimo with altered melody and richer
harmony in which also the guitar takes part.
Of the fifth variation only three bars are left. Here the score breaks off
suddenly so that we may presume that Schubert had continued this movement on
an other page but that the rest is lost.
Schmid had already noticed that Schubert had first written in the beginning
of the score Terzett; this word was, however, cancelled and replaced by
Quartetto. This suggests that the work was either first intended as a Trio, or that it
is indeed an arrangement of an already existing Trio. << Schubert >>, Schmid says,
<< must have realized that the guitar was too weak a foundation for the flute and the
viola (maybe after a first rehearsal or performance) and he therefore added a
cello-part >>».
Schmid ends his article with some queries: << Was the present arrangement
also printed or did it remain in manuscript? In the Munich State Library I have
neither found any Trio by Schubert with the guitar, nor the song which is used in
it as the theme for the Variations >> (13). Finally, by this open letter Schmid invites
the Editor (Alfred Einstein) and through him other possible musicologists to look
into the matter and try to find an answer to the questions unsolved so far. <<It
seems to me >>, he says, << that Erlk6nig was Schubert's first work to be printed;
how then could he refer to another work which already existed in print, even
before Erlk6nig was composed?... >>

II. FIRST REACTIONS (1918-1922)

A revival of the classical guitar music had started to develop around the time
that Schubert's guitar quartet had been discovered. No wonder that guitar

(13) Schmid probably consulted the old Collected Edition or Gesamtausgabe by Breitkopf & Hartel of
1884-1897.

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enthusiastics and amateurs in Austria and Germany welcomed the unexpected
finding as a gift from Heaven! It is well known that some of Schubert's chorusses
for male voices (opus 11 and 16) were published with accompaniment of
Pianoforte or guitar (ad libitum). It is less known that several of his songs were
also published with guitar accompaniment as an alternative instead of the
pianoforte. It is, however, practically certain that these arrangements were the
idea and work of Schubert's publishers, in particular Anton Diabelli.
In Gustav NOTrEBOHM'S Thematic List of Schubert's printed music
(published in Vienna, 1874) we can find quite a number of songs which were
published in an arrangement for voice and guitar. Unfortunately, as no dates of
publication are given, it is difficult to know whether or not these arrangements
were published during Schubert's lifetime. But if so, we can presume that it was
not Schubert's idea and that he only tolerated such arrangements. We know, for
instance, that Diabelli published Schubert's dances for piano, opus 33 on the 8th
of January 1825; on the 1 1th of February of the same year an arrangement for
four hands was published and a few weeks later the same dances appeared in an
arrangement for Violin and Pianoforte (14)! Only Schubert's name appears on all
these publications, but the Schubert-authorities are convinced that the arrange-
ments are the work of Diabelli whose only aim was, of course, to derive profit
from it as much as possible!
In 1918 a certain guitarist, Mr. Richard SCHMID (who has nothing to do with
Heinrich Kaspar SCHMID, mentioned above!) published as his Opus 75 an edition
of ten Schubert songs with accompaniment of the guitar. As a preface to this
publication, he wrote a so-called music-historical essay with the title Schubert als
Gitarrist (Schubert as a guitar-player) (15). This music-historical essay (music-
hysterical would be more correct!) is not easy to find, but by what we know from
an article by 0. E. Deutsch (16) it must be full of mistakes, errors, misattributions
and stupidities.
Among other stories, Richard Schmid claimed that his father, Anton Schmid
(born in 1844) had been a pupil of Schubert's brother Ferdinand at the St. Anna
School in Vienna. Ferdinand, he said, would have sold to Anton Schmid a guitar
which had formerly belonged to Franz Schubert!
Schubert, R. Schmid says, had learned to play the guitar around 1812 (when
he was 15 years old), at the instigation of the poet Theodor Korner who was
himself an excellent guitarist. Schmid further claims that Schubert used his guitar
to compose his Lieder(!). As Professor Deutsch has pointed out later, Richard
Schmid had a lot of imagination, but there is no historical reason whatsoever to

(14) Information about these publications was received from Ignaz Weinmann, the great collector and specialist
of first editions.
(15) R. SCHMID, Opus 75: Zehn Schubert-Liedern zur Gitarre, mit einem Vorwort ,<Franz Schubert als
Gitarrist, , eine musik-historische Skizze. Verlag Friedrich Hofmeister. Leipzig. N° 9707. (1918). - A
further set of Songs with guitar-accompaniment was published by R. Schmid in 1921 (Hofmeister, Leipzig,
N° 9841).
(16) Schubert ohne Gitarre (see further!).

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believe his assertions most of which can be easily refuted by the facts recorded in
the historical documents.

* *

Another article, more directly written in connection with the Guitar Quartet
is the one by Erwin SCHWARZ-REIFLINGEN, the Editor of the magazine <<Die
Gitarre>> (Berlin-Charlottenburg) with the title An unknown Schubert-Quartet
with guitar (17).
Schwarz-Reiflingen (in good faith) had been badly influenced by Richard
Schmid, and had accepted and taken over most of his uncritical stories!
He starts his article by saying what a pity it is, that Schubert's work,
discovered since four years, has not yet been published. The main obstacle is that
the present owner, Mrs. Feyerer, wants to sell the manuscript for not less than
400 Dollars (in November 1922 - a period of extreme inflation, it should be
remembered! - the enormous sum of 2.680.000 DM.). It remains, however, a
consolation, he continues, that Schubert has written such a work, which will, no
doubt, bring the guitar (so often despised!) without difficulty back into the
concert hall!
In this article we now learn more about the ancestors of Karl Feyerer and
their supposed relationship with Schubert. Ignaz Rosner (Karl Feyerer's great-
uncle) was not the only relative who was a close friend of Schubert! Another one
was a certain Fritz Stenzl, who played the viola in the Vienna «< Philharmonia >>
orchestra (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde). His sister was, it seems, a very
excellent guitarist and she later became Rosner's wife. Mrs. Feyerer therefore
suggested that Schubert might have dedicated the newly discovered quartet to
her, and that in this manner the manuscript came into the family's possession.
Moreover, we now learn that Ignaz Rosner, besides being a modest painter
and designer, was also a musician and even a composer: he played the flute and
the viola (or violoncello?) in the orchestra and he composed some Lieder. Among
those, a Freundschaftslied is mentioned, written for voice and accompaniment of
guitar, which was published in Prague in 1845(?). In addition, it seems that
Rosner was a friend of the Grob family - which certainly brings us closer to
Schubert! It is well known that between 1814 and 1816 Schubert was seriously in
love with Therese Grob, the soprano solo who sang so marvelously in his first
Mass in F major (D. 105) in 1814. Therese would have married him, if her family
had not objected that Schubert had no means of living, after he had given up his
job as a teacher at his father's school... Among Rosner's designs a picture was
found with the name of Wilhelmine Grob on it; she was an aunt of Therese and
she later married Schubert's elder brother Ignaz.

(17) Ein unbekanntes Schubert-Quartett mit Gitarre, in < Die Gitarre ,, Berlin, Jahrgang 4, Heft 2, November
1922, S. 11-15.

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 Erwin Schwarz-Reiflingen resumes in his article (besides the apocryphical
stories of Richard Schmid) the article by Heinrich Kaspar SCHMID (whom he calls
by mistake Johann-Kaspar Schmid). He also comes to the conclusion that the
Quartet must be an arrangement of a Trio which was supposedly written - and
even printed - earlier. << How strange >>, he says < that such a beautiful work is
not available: no printed copy of it is known and nowhere does it appear on
programme-notes of Schubert's time. We find indeed in this period many Trios
for flute, viola and guitar by such composers as Call, Matiegka (!), Giuliani,
Kreutzer, Kiiffner and others, but none by Schubert. Yet, his manuscript shows
that he knew how to compose for the guitar and that he most probably played the
instrument masterly himself>>».
And Schwarz-Reiflingen concludes his article: < It is a serious handicap for
the revival of artful guitar-playing that this important work is not available in
print. It is a shame that it is, so to speak, kept secret as an object for sale, until a
rich American will wake it up from its slumber as a sleeping beauty! There is,
however, a faint glimps of hope: an American relative of Mrs. Feyerer who lives
in Chicago intends to organize a Concert of Schubert-music in order to rise the
necessary 400 dollars to buy the manuscript. As the Austrian State does not allow
the export of art-treasures, manuscripts etc..., the precious autograph would then
finally be offered as a gift to the Vienna Schubert-Verein (18)».
This, however, was not done, and it would take another four years before the
Quartet was printed.

III. FIRST PERFORMANCE (1925) AND PUBLICATION (1926).

I have not been able to find out when and by whom the manuscript was
finally bought from Mrs. Feyerer. Anyway, in 1925 it was private possession
with an art-collector in Munich whose name is nowhere mentioned. However,
Dr. Georg KINSKY (1882-1951), the wellknown musicologist and Curator of the
William Heyer Museum in Cologne, was allowed to make a copy of the work in
order to make a first performance and publication possible.
The quartet was performed for the first time in public at a Concert given
during the fourth Rheinland Festival of Chamber Music, on the 6th of June 1925
in a Castle at Briihl near Cologne.
The guitar was played by the virtuoso Heinrich ALBERT from Munich. The
comment in the press was: << it sounded so old, yet it was so new! > Since then, it
was repeatedly performed at several occasions, for example on the fourth of May
1926 at the 50th Vienna Schubertiade of the famous < Schubert-Bund»> in the
Festival Hall of the Academy of Science, and on Ascension-Day of 1928 at the
16th Chamber Music Festival in the Beethoven-House in Bonn.

(18) He apparently meant the wellknown Schubert-Bund, where several Schubert autographs were preserved.

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 In 1926 it was finally printed at the Munich «< Drei-Masken-Verlag >>, with an
extensive foreword by the editor, Dr. Georg Ludwig KINSKY. He first repeats
what we already know about the find, the ancestors of Mrs. Feyerer, the form and
measurements of the manuscript and the enthusiastic description of the work by
Heinrich Kaspar Schmid. He adds that the Guitar Quartet, much more than any of
the early string quartets which were composed in the same period, shows
Schubert's own style and the amazing progress he had made in a short time.
<<Schubert's personal relation with the guitar>>, he says, <<may have been
exagerated recently (19), and there is no historical proof that he played the
instrument himself; yet, the whole quartet shows that Schubert must have been
well acquainted with the way it was played>>».
Here he repeats the words by Schwarz-Reiflingen, who, as the Editor of the
Berlin Guitar Magazine, was an authority on the subject, and then adds that
among the classical pieces for guitar of Schubert's time, only those of Molitor
could stand comparison with Schubert's quartet. Like H. K. Schmid and
Schwarz-Reiflingen, Kinsky realizes that the quartet is maybe not an original
piece, but the arrangement of a Trio. He too finds this rather strange, because
exactly the Trio for flute, viola and guitar was extremely popular at that time; this
results from a list in Whistling's Catalogue of printed music up to 1815, in which
dozens of Trios are enumerated written by Boecklin, Call, Diabelli, Matiegka and
others. Only one piece, a Serenade by Leonhard von Call (t 1815), is mentioned
as being written for four instruments. «It is a great pity,>> he says, <<that
Schubert's quartet remains a fragment and breaks off in the beginning of the fifth
variation. This delicately elaborated variation, mainly for the viola, could hardly
be the last one in the quartet and it is likely that other variations and possibly a
finale were written, but these must be considered as being definitely lost! >.
An attempt to complete the last variation for practical use was made for the
first edition by the editor, Dr. Georg Kinsky. << However>>, he says, << if someone
wishes to leave out this variation altogether, he is completely free to do so; in this
case, it might be better to change the order of the movements and to play the
variations after the slow movement (Lento e patetico) and then end the quartet
with the fourth movement «<Zingara>> in D major>>.
At the end of the edition, Dr. Kinsky gives in a Revisionsbericht or critical
report, an account on some small changes which were made, mainly in the guitar
part, in order to make it sound better. It is not clear, however, whether these
changes were already made in the first edition or in a second so-called << revised >>
edition in 1931 (20).

(19) He refers here to the uncritical essay by Richard Schmid.

(20) I have only the American PETERS edition (N° 6078) printed in 1956, which seems to be the reprint of the
revised (1931) edition.

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IV. The opinion of O. E. DEUTSCH (1928)

It goes without saying that also the greatest Schubert-scholar of our times,
O.E. Deutsch was interested in this matter. At the occasion of the first Centenary
of Schubert's death in 1928, he wrote quite a number of articles on Schubert
which appeared in several newspapers and magazines. Two of these articles in
particular are relative to the Guitar Quartet: Schubert ohne Gitarre (Schubert
without a guitar), and a review of the first edition in the Zeitschrift fiir
Musikwissenschaft (Leipzig, October 1928).
The first one appeared in a special issue of the Austrian Periodical for
Guitar (21) together with some 14 other articles on Schubert by various authors. It
was in the first place (as the title suggests), a reaction against the uncritical essay
by Richard Schmid which had so badly influenced the public opinion. << Nobody
will object>>, Deutsch says, <<if someone wishes to perform certain songs by
Schubert with accompaniment of the guitar; for instance, the wellknown
«< Serenade >> from Schwanengesang: both text and music suggest a singer who
accompanies himself with the guitar. But to proclaim Schubert, high-handed, as a
composer for the guitar is going too far! >>.
It was understandable that the movement for the revival of the guitar as a
classical instrument, would try to lay hand on Schubert: he was the great-master
of the Lied. It seems, however, too easy to assume therefore that he was also
accustomed to accompany his songs with the guitar! Not a single one of his many
friends who wrote about him in their memoires has ever mentioned that Schubert
played that instrument. Although it is most probable that he could play it (and that
he could play it well!) the only instruments which he used to play mentioned in
the historical documents are the violin, the viola and the piano.
That he knew how to play it seems to be implied by his composition of the
Cantata for his father's nameday (D. 80) which was written on the 27th
September 1813, but there is no evidence that he was the one who played the
guitar at that occasion when it was performed on October the 4th, 1813.
It is well documented that Schubert composed without using any instrument,
although he could, most of the time, dispose of a piano. It would take us too far to
enumerate all the little stories which were invented in connection with Schubert
and << his >> guitar; let it be sufficient to say that all of them can be easily refuted by
the historical documents.
Already since 1910, 0. E. Deutsch had occupied himself with the question
of the authenticity of the Schubert-songs which were published for voice and
guitar between 1820 and 1850. The result of his investigations is that all of these
publications are apocryphical and not made by Schubert himself, but are the work
of his publishers and that he - at the most - has tolerated such arrangements.

(21) Schubert ohne Gitarre in: < Schubert-Gabe der Oesterreichische Gitarre-Zeitschrift,>> herausgegeben von
Jakob Ortner und Gustav Moissl. Wien (Juni) 1928. Verlag der Oesterreichische Gitarre-Zeitschrift.
Friedrich Hofmeister & Co. pp. 18-26.

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Even the male chorusses published in his Opus 11 and Opus 16 cannot be proved
to be written for accompaniment with guitar by Schubert himself.
Schubert's manuscript of Das D6rfchen (D. 641) Opus 11, N° 1, is without
any accompaniment; he may have added a Pf. accompaniment for the publica-
tion, but even that is dubious! Of Die Nachtigall (D. 724) Opus 11, N° 2, no
manuscript has survived, and the chorus Geist der Liebe (D. 747) Opus 11, n° 3
has again no accompaniment in the autograph. As for Opus 16: Fruhlingsgesang
(D. 740) was written twice and the original setting (D. 709) shows that it was
conceived without any accompaniment. It was probably on the demand of the
publisher that Schubert rewrote it in 1822 and added a Pf. accompaniment, but it
is as good as certain that the guitar accompaniment (ad libitum) was added by
Diabelli; the same for opus 16 N° 2 Naturgenuss (D. 422): there was originally
no accompaniment and the Pf. accompaniment was only added in view of the
publication. When one of Schubert's male chorusses was sung in public for the
first time with accompaniment of the guitar on 27th August 1822, the guitar was
- ironically! - played by a Mr. Schmidt ... who has not been identified
otherwise!
As could be expected, Otto Erich Deutsch discovered some interesting
points in connection with the Guitar Quartet. Although he would have been the
first one to rejoice in a newly found Schubert composition Deutsch was realistic
enough to suspect that it was this time only an arrangement and not an original
work. His logic is quite straight-forward: there is no doubt that the note to the
third Variation: Die dritte Variation ist hier die zweite im gestochenen Terzett.
Das Violonzello schweiget

1. first of all refers to a printed Trio, and not, as Kinsky suggested, a Trio
which was only planned to be printed! And
2. secondly: that is refers to a Trio without Violoncello.

<< It is therefore clear >>, Deutsch says, << that Schubert has arranged a Trio by
another composer and that he has simply added a violoncello part. Moreover,
Schubert's first work to be printed was not his Erlkonig, butAm Erlafsee (D. 586)
which was written in September 1817 and which appeared in a local Almanac
only a few months later, on the 6th of February 1818.
Another interesting point was the finding of the poem which was used in the
song (or Serenade) Mddchen, o schlumm're noch nicht!. An old manuscript,
acquired by the Vienna Nationalbibliothek shortly before 1928 contains a song,
probably composed around 1800 with the same text, but with another melody.
Deutsch reproduced a facsimile of the song in his article and quoted the whole
poem as it is found there. By a strange coincidence, this poem contains a phrase
which appears almost literally in the apocryphical Mozart << Wiegenlied: Schlafe,
mein Prinzchen ...» (which is in fact by Bernhard Flies) namely Luna mit
silbernen Schein (in the Wiegenlied the text is: Luna mit silbernen Licht). And
Deutsch points out that the melody of that Wiegenlied is much more worthy of
Mozart, than the Serenade would be of Schubert, but both are misattributions!

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 With his article, Deutsch has reproduced some interesting illustrations. On
page 18, the wellknown Atzenbrugger Fest by Schwind and Schober; on the
foreground sits Schubert with Vogl. It is, however, Vogl - not Schubert! -
who is playing the guitar. On page 19 Vogl's guitar (Lyragitarre) is reproduced,
and on page 20 we find a picture of the guitar which had belonged to J. K.
Umlauf, another friend of Schubert. A design by Schwind, made around 1820
Serenade with guitar is reproduced on page 21; there is no evidence at all that it
would be Schubert who is playing the guitar. Finally, on page 22, a miniature
portrait (unsigned) representing Ignaz Rosner has been reproduced.
Deutsch's general conclusion is that Schubert is not a guitarist, as Richard
Schmid and Erwin Schwarz-Reiflingen wanted to make of him! Schubert's share
in the Guitar Quartet is only the addition of the cello-part.
His second article in connection with the Guitar Quartet appeared in the
Zeitschrift fiir Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig, October 1928, pages 124-126. It is a
review on the first edition and he starts by saying that, if it comes rather late, the
reason is that he wanted to be very careful. Since the quartet was found in 1918
much had been written about it; it was printed in the meantime and after its first
performance near Cologne it had been played several times and it was even
broadcasted on the radio. <<Since ten years>>, he says, <<a legend has been
invented that wants to make of Schubert the patron of the classical guitar-music,
going even so far as to pretend that he composed many of his Lieder with obligato
guitar-accompaniment! > Deutsch then refers to his article in the Austrian Guitar
Magazine in which he has tried to refute all the legends of Richard Schmid and
others. As a supplementary information he points out that the recently published
Neuen Schubertlieder zur Gitarre edited by Alfred Rondorf (Ernst Bisping
Verlag, Miinster in Westfalen) were in a very uncritical manner brought in
connection with the so-called Guitar Quartet. He repeats that all the editions of
Schubert Lieder with guitar, up to 1850 are not original, even if only Schubert's
name appears in the publication. Max Friedlaender and after him also Eusebius
Mandyczewski were of the opinion that the guitar accompaniment which is
printed ad libitum in Schubert's Opus 11 and Opus 16 (cfr. supra) is an addition
by Diabelli. Only the insignificant Cantata which Schubert wrote for his father's
Nameday in 1813 is doubtless a genuine composition with accompaniment of the
guitar.
« Schubert >>, Deutsch says, « has made around 1812 several arrangements of
other compositions which he liked >>. As examples he quotes Hagars Klage and
the Trio Die Advokaten. The first one, a composition by Zumsteeg, was imitated
and re-set by Schubert; the second one was (in the opinion of Deutsch) a
composition by Anton Fischer which was only slightly altered by Schubert and
published as his Opus 74 (see foreword!). << We hope >>, Deutsch concludes, << that
the Trio which could not be identified so far, will be discovered one day>>.
Deutsch was - at least for the greater part - right: a few years later the
Trio was found, but that Schubert had merely added a violoncello part, as he puts
it, is not exactly the full truth; the matter is much more complicated than that!

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 Naturally, such a viewpoint by the eminent Schubert-expert could not
remain without a reaction and Kinsky therefore soon wrote an answer in
December 1928, which appeared among the Miscellania of the Zeitschrift fur
Musikwissenschaft (Leipzig) in April 1929, pp. 439-441. - <<Deutsch>>, Kinsky
says, << has come to the conclusion that the Guitar Quartet is not an original work
but an arrangement of an unidentified (already printed) Trio by an other
composer, to which Schubert has merely added a cello-part. As this work has
been appreciated so much and widely spread since it was printed in 1926, I feel
obliged to give an answer to the assertions of this prominent Schubert-scholar. I
fully agree that Schubert's close connection with the beloved instrument of the
Biedermeier-period has been much exagerated, and Deutsch has proved this in a
masterly way in his article «Schubert ohne Gitarre>> (cfr. supra). However,
Deutsch himself has reproduced two guitars which had once belonged to Schubert
in his picture-volume of the Documents, and these were afterwards recognized as
being spurious! After all, there is the Cantata for his father's nameday which is
doubtlessly an authentic composition for voices and guitar! This proves
whether or not Schubert has played the guitar-part at the performance - that he
knew how to play it and how to write for it. That Schubert would have imitated
other men's compositions (Zumsteeg's Hagars Klage and Fischer's Trio Die
Advokaten) (22) is by no means a proof that he would have made a similar
arrangement in this case; and that Deutsch has discovered the poem of the
Serenade Midchen, o schlumm're noch nicht! does not help us either!>>
The main difficulty remains the mentioning of a << printed Trio » in the set of
variations. << My opinion >>, Kinsky says, < was that an edition of the original Trio
was planned or had been prepared, but was never made. Deutsch's opinion is that
Schubert in his arrangement of a Trio by one of his contemporaries, has not
copied out the Variations (without cello part) but simply referred to the edition
already previously printed. Let this be true, but this does not prove that the other
variations are not Schubert's original work. If we accept Mrs. Feyerer's theory
that the Quartet was dedicated to Stenzl's sister (and Rosner's future wife) - and
this seems to be the only way to explain how the manuscript came into the
family's possession - it is quite possible that the melody of the Serenade was
one of her favorite themes, and that a printed set of variations (by another
composer) already existed to which Schubert is refering here. In that case, the
other variations in Schubert's manuscript certainly would be his own! And
internal evidence seems to confirm this: the first variation (in Schubert's
autograph) is undoubtedly written for someone who knows how to play the
violoncello; it is simply a " bravura > showpiece for this instrument. The variation
IV (piu lento) with its expressive harmony betrays a masterhand and is totally
worthy of Schubert. And the attractive pizzicato-effects in the fifth variation are
made possible only through the use of two string instruments, viola and cello. If,

(22) Schubert's settings of both works (D. 5 and D. 37) are quite personal and are by far better than their
models!

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however, there would be still a doubt about this variation-set, does it mean that
also the rest of the Quartet is not by Schubert? It is indeed clear that in the other
movements nothing indicates that it would be an arrangement of an other
composer's work, on the contrary. The corrections in the four parts (and not only
in the parts for viola and cello, as one would expect in an arrangement) suggest an
authentic composition. And there is the inner quality of the work which surpasses
by far the entire literature for guitar of the period>>.
<< Deutsch says: 'If a Schubert-lover with knowledge and understanding of
music would hear the Guitar Quartet on the radio, he would certainly shake his
head when he hears that it is attributed to Schubert'. This judgment seems to me
quite prejudiced and would be much milder if there were no doubt about the
authenticity of the work! One needs only to look at the recently published
Trio-Sonata movement (D. 28) of 1812 (edited by Prof. Orel) and the early
string-quartets, which are much less-perfect than the Guitar-Quartet>>.
On the other hand: what to say about the third movement (Lento e patetico)
which in H. K. Schmid's words 'betrays not only the true, but the entire
Schubert'? Would a listener also shake his head when hearing this movement
with its penetrating intimacy, hardly found in any of the earlier works, and would
he rather attribute it to such man as Giuliani, von Call, Matiegka (!) or any of the
other obscure contemporaries of Schubert ?>>
And Kinsky concludes his apology: << As long as a clear proof of the contrary
is not produced, I refuse to believe that this Quartet, certainly written in
Schubert's hand, is not his own composition, except for the cello-part>>.

V. FINDING OF MATIEGKA'S TRIO (1931)

At the end of 1931, only a few months after the second edition of the Quartet
(revised by Kinsky), a great amateur and collector of Guitar-music, Thorwald
RISCHEL from Copenhagen, who was also a virtuoso on his instrument, found in
his huge collection the Trio which had been arranged into a Quartet by Schubert.
It is a Trio, which in a very rare printed edition appears as the

NOTURNO (sic!)
pour Flute, Viole et Guitarre (sic!)
compose et dedie
a Mr. le Comte Jean Esterhazy par
W. MATIEGKA
Proffesseur (sic !)
Op. XXI. 1926 (23)
a Vienne chez Artaria et Comp. - C.P.S.C.M. (24)

(23) This 1926 is, of course, the publication number of Artaria's firm; by coincidence it is also the date of
publication of Schubert's arrangement! - A facsimile of the title-page is reproduced in Brown's Schubert.
A critical Biography, London, MacMillan & Co. 1958, after page 36.
(24) Cum Privilegio Sacrae Caesareae Majestatis.

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 Rischel published his discovery in the Danish Music Review under the title
<<A Schubert Problem solved>> (25) and in the same year a similar article was
written by Georg Kinsky in the Zeitschrift fur Musikwissenschaft.
Rischel first recalls how the find of the Guitar Quartet in 1918 had stirred the
musical world. The discovery was quite important, because this Quartet is not
only interesting for its unique combination in Schubert's work, but also on
account of its beauty and technical perfection, leaving far behind all other
youthful chamber music compositions. It has been performed repeatedly in
Germany and Austria and it was finally played during the winter of 1931 at a local
Concert of the Chamber Music Society in Copenhagen.
At this occasion, the Librarian of the Copenhagen University, Mr. Birket-
Smith drew Rischel's attention to Deutsch's article Schubert ohne Gitarre (cfr.
supra). << I had a feeling », says Rischel, < that Deutsch was right, although there
were still serious arguments against his theory. As I have an enormous Library of
Guitar-music, there was a slight possibility that the unidentified Trio would be
among those pieces, which until recently I had not been able to play, because of
lack of time. And indeed, I found it ».
A year before, it had been discovered that the Serenade Miidchen, o
schlumm're noch nicht!, was a composition by Friedrich Fleischmann (1796) and
this had been published in an article by Kinsky Zu Schuberts Gitarrenquartett in
Nr. 9/10 of the monthly review Der Gitarrenfreund, volume 31, Munich 1930.
Rischel's new discovery, of much greater importance, was due to be published
first in the magazine <<Die Gitarre>> (Berlin) by Erwin Schwarz-Reiflingen in the
issue of November-December 1931, but by the time Rischel wrote his article, it
had not yet appeared. He therefore repeated for his Danish readers, the whole
story of the finding of the Guitar Quartet and the controversy between Heinrich
Kaspar Schmid, Schwarz-Reiflingen and Kinsky on one side, and 0. E. Deutsch
on the other side.
In a catalogue of Rudolph Werckmeister's Music Shop in Berlin, issued in
October 1808, Verzeichniss von ganz neuen Musikalien, we find the Trio together
with two other compositions by Matiegka. Matiegka was then 35 years old, while
Schubert was only eleven, so that it is clear, that Schubert's version is
undoubtedly an arrangement of the elder composer's work; Schubert's signature
on the manuscript could be explained simply as a mark of property.
From a comparison between Matiegka's original Trio and Schubert's
arrangement as a Quartet we can deduce that in the second movement << Minuet»
Schubert has left out the second Trio and replaced it by a new composition of his
own. Besides this, there are only a few changes in the guitar part, but more
frequently in the flute part and above all in the viola part which is often taken over
by the cello part (26).

(25) <, Et Schubert-Problem L0st,, in Dansk Musiktidsskrift, 7. Argang Nummer 4 (Kobenhavn) April 1932, pp.
117-121.
(26) This already contradicts Deutsch's statement, that Schubert merely added a violoncello part.

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 The fifth movement has seven variations. With the help of the original
version, it is now possible, not only to provide the missing variations Nr. 1 and 3,
but there is a better chance to complete the variation Nr. 5 which in Schubert's
manuscript breaks off after the third bar. <<In my opinion>, Rischel says,
< Schubert had finished his Quartet with the seventh variation << Marcia»,
naturally, completed with a cello-part. Most serenades have a similar ending>>».
In fact, some of Schubert's own Variation-sets end with a brillant march; so,
for instance, the Variations on a theme from Die schone Miillerin for flute and
pianoforte (D. 802).
« Maybe >>, Rischel concludes, << that the interest for the Guitar-Quartet will
diminish, now that it is clear that it is not an original Schubert composition. It will
nevertheless remain a cherised work for real amateurs of chamber music with
guitar, as well as for Schubert enthusiasts, since it betrays (in the words of H. K.
Schmid) << not only the real but the entire Schubert».

* *

Kinsky's report on the find of Matiegka's Trio is published among the

Miscellania in the Zeitschrift fiir Musikwissenschaft Leipzig, volume XIV,
August 1932, pp. 476-478.
<<«The mystery of Schubert's Guitar Quartet>>, he says, «has been finally,
after 14 years, definitely cleared up: Otto Erich Deutsch's theory, saying that
(notwithstanding Schubert's own signature) the Quartet is only the arrangement
of someone else's Trio, with the addition of a cello-part, has been found fully
true. 0. E. Deutsch had expected that the original Trio would be re-discovered
one day, and so it was!»>>
Kinsky then relates that the Trio was found in the collection of an elderly
Danish engineer and amateur guitar-player, Thorwald Rischel. A very formal
report of the find was already given in Erwin Schwarz-Reiflingen's Guitar
magazine (27).
That Matiegka's Trio was printed in the early summer of 1807 (almost seven
years before Schubert's arrangement!) can be deduced from Artaria's publication
number 1926: two piano pieces by Haydn which appeared in July and October of
the same year, bear the numbers 1930 and 1931.
The sequence of the movements both in the Trio and the Quartet is the same.
In Matiegka's Trio there are seven variations:
Variation I: for guitar and viola (without flute); in Schubert's manuscript
omitted and indicated with the note < remains the same; the violoncello tacet, .
The guitar has a figurated melody, while the viola plays an accompaniment
figure.

(27) Die Gitarre, Vol. XII, Nr. 11-12, Nov.-Dec. 1931, (which only appeared in the first half of 1932).

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8 Variation I (Guitar) . .

Variation II: for flute and guitar (without viola); in

this becomes the third variation. Here it is the flute wh
part.

9 Variation II (Flute) Allegretto

"x f g " ....- - -- ---- - / .''.''''1.

Variation III: << Capric(c)io (piiu le

IV, with only slight changes in the
and addition of a cello-part.

to10 Variation mI (flute)

piu lento f

ej sempre pp

Variation IV: in Schubert's manuscript, the fifth variation, which

there incomplete.
Variation IV (viola)

con espr. lrt-- ^- 4>

il '1 · ' i 1

wmj~~ [Si^^ pizz. col arco

Variation V: <<Minore>> in g minor. <<In Schubert's manuscript>>, Kinsky
says, << this is the second Variation, but in G major and without guitar, which is
replaced by the violoncello part>> (28).

12 Variation V Minore (flute)

lVariation VI: cMajore (sic!) Allegro; in Schubert's manuscript this may

Variation VI: <<Majore>> (sic!) Allegro; in Schubert's manuscript this may

have been on another page which is now lost.

13 Var. VI Allegro. Majore a a

P , L>' z G- , LI^;^' L^
(flute) / Affp f /
(28) I do not agree with this view: Schubert's first v
different from the «Minore» variation. See further!

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 Variation VII: < Marcia>> (Maestoso, C major); the same.

14 Var. 7 tIMARCIA Majestoso

(flute)

The variations VI and VII do not have the same musical value as the former
ones (III-V), although the last one, as a Coda, an innocent march, is harmonically
attractive and makes a good ending.
About Schubert's arrangement we can make the following statement: The
part of the guitar is, like the part of the flute, with a few exceptions, unchanged.
The viola part has been substantially changed, because of the addition of the
violoncello part, which not only serves as a bass or foundation for the Quartet,
but which often has a very personal role. The cello has taken over solo-phrases
from the viola in several places, as for instance in the movement Lento e patetico
where the arrangement has certainly added a much greater charm to the quartet,
and some imitations in the counterpart are free additions by Schubert (29).

15 Lento e patetico

Flutey rel n etc.

The only real new Schubert co

(page 15 in the printed edition).
Lainder which opens as follows:

16 MINUET Trio If (Matiegka)

(Flute) sempre pp

About Wenzeslaus (also called <

his printed compositions, we ca
«Simon Molitor and the Vienna
69 and following), and in his «
189).
Matiegka was born in the beginning of July 1773 in Chotzen (Bohemia) and
he was a pupil of Abbe Gelinek in Prague. In 1800 he came penniless to Vienna.
He first started to study law, but his musical qualities soon attracted the attention
and through his hard work and genuine industry he became wellknown as a
guitar-teacher and player. Later he obtained the posts of <<Regens chori>>

(29) See footnote 26!

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(Choirmaster) at the Parishes of St. Leopold (1817) and St. Joseph (1821). Many
of his pupils belonged to the well-to-do people in Vienna. He died there on
January 19th, 1830.
In view of his re-discovered Trio Schwarz-Reiflingen points out that his
compositions may have been understated in the past; «for>», he says, « it is now
clear that his Nottumo opus 21 is one of the most remarkable compositions with
guitar in the old literature, which for a long time was regarded, even by
Specialists, as a composition by Schubert! >>.
We could now add to this, that it certainly stands for Schubert's good taste,
that he chose exactly this piece to make it even more beautiful through his
arrangement as a quartet.

VI. DISCOGRAPHY

In view of the controversy which has been described above, it is understan-

dable that after an enthusiastic welcome between 1918 and 1928 the public
opinion about the Schubert Guitar Quartet became rather cool, if not against it.
Yet, with Schubertians the work has always kept its charm and a certain
sympathy, be it only as a kind of «<curiosum>>.
The first record to me made of the Quartet was, (as far as I know) by an
Austrian group of Chamber Music players from Linz. The record was first issued
on the NIXA label; another name for PERIOD PLP 518 of the DECCA group,
possibly in 1953 (?). The same recording was recently re-issued in France on
MUSIDISC 30 RC 855, together with the Trout Quintet in a Series < Richesse
Classique >>. Of the variations they only play the two variations (II and IV) which
are completely written out in Schubert's manuscript.
On the record-sleeve of the NIXA recording, we read: <<The so-called
Schubert Guitar Quartet is none other than a little known Serenade in G major by
a young Bohemian composer, Wenzeslaus Matyegka (sic!) to which the flexible
Schubert added an original Cello part, and thus made it adaptable to the musical
resources of a friendly family... The spirit of Franz Joseph Haydn's essays into
Hungarian folklore music seems to hover over the whole work, particularly over
the movement marked appropriately enough alla zingharese - in the Gypsy
style >>».
It is amazing to find on the French record the following commentary:
« Franz Schubert, Austrian composer contemporary with Beethoven, begins his
musical career when he is twelve years old as a soloist singer in the choir of the
Imperial Chapel. Aged fifteen years he writes his first lieder and admirable
impromptus (!). Then it is a lot of masterpieces: sonatas, trios, quartets, quintets,
masses, and eight symphonies among which, particularly in the last one (!)
<< Unfinished >>, the essential of Schubert is to be found: meditation, romantism,
melancholy, nostalgia and drama. The well known quintet « The Trout >> and the
quartet for guitar, respectively composed in 1814 and in 1819, are one of the most

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witty, the lightest of Schubert's compositions and are too, with the << Unfinished >>
symphony, the most popular works of the great Austrian composer>> - Not one
word about Matiegka and his Trio! What a shame for the editors of the << Richesse
Classique » !
A second recording of the Guitar Quartet dates fom October 1955 and was
played by a Danish group of Artists (Decca LXT 5070: Chamber Music with
Guitar). They play all the variations as they are found in Schubert's manuscript as
well as those in Matiegka's original (discretely completed with a cello-part)
except for the «< Minore >> variation which is left out. The reason for this seems to
be that it is thought (as Kinsky said) that Schubert had replaced the << Minore » by
a major variation (the first one in his manuscript), but this is not true! In my
opinion, the << Minore» variation is (although similar at first sight) substantially
different from Schubert's major variation, and I cannot imagine that Schubert
would have left out this «< minore >> variation which is by far the most beautiful one
of the whole set, specially on account of its unexpected change of tone after the
fourth bar, where it modulates from G minor to D minor. Moreover, the
violoncello figurations (in Schubert's variation) resemble the guitar accompani-
ment in the «< Minore > variation, but are not at all identical, as can be seen from
the following musical example:
17 no" MAl'£XuKA (guitar)
Ay r StSrIr LLL.rL.T,J ' ' rJ r _

SCHUBERT (violoncello)

A third recording was made for PHILIPS <<Tresors Classiques»> Serie

Artistique 641 738 LL. The performance is quite nice. They play the two
variations which are written in Schubert's manuscript, but after the first one (with
the cello figurations) they play the same one, arranged for viola and guitar: the
viola plays the part of the flute, but two octaves lower, and the guitar plays the
cello-figurations in a much slower tempo. In this way, the Schubert variation is
played twice, the second time re-arranged, but it does sound very nice!
The notes on the record-sleeve are, however, hair-raising and full of
mistakes! A certain Marcel MARNAT is the author of the piece and one wonders
where he found this information! Here are a few examples of his literature:
<<Discovered in 1914 (sic!) this unusual Quartet by Schubert remained
practically forgotten until the years after the war [of 1940-1945]. Ida Presti
performed it in Strasbourg in 1949 and since then it slowly made its way in the
esteem of the instrumentalists.
Claude Rostand notes that none of the French Biographers of Schubert even
mentions this work. A small book by Marcel Schneider has appeared fairly
recently in which it is described very shortly. Of the German musicologists some

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bring the work in connection with Schubert's extreme youth and pass it by; others
see in it a fruit of his latest years, too precious to be well known. But they do not
really speak about it. All this mysteriousness incites us to take some risks. Those
who consider it as a work of his youth underline its Mozartian aspect, especially
in the first movements. Allusion is made to a Notturno for Trio by a certain M.
W. Matiegka (1773-1820) [sic!] which Schubert, for some obscure reason,
would have augmented with a Cello-part and a second Trio in the Minuet. As
nothing is known about Matiegka and his work [sic!] those who consider it as a
mature work ignore this detail and speak of a finished score which was not the
definite one. The former biographers situate its origine around 1814 when
Schubert was 17 and composed his first and second Symphonies; the others
locate it between 1825 and 1828 >>.
In a following paragraph Marcel Mamat brings the Quartet in connection
with Schubert's love for Therese Grob; a theory which seems a little too easy!
An excellent recording, especially as far as the guitar is concerned, was
made by the VOX Co., for TURNABOUT (STV 34 171) in 1969. which is
entitled GUITAR MUSIC IN VIENNA. Mainly in the first movement, Luise Walker, the
guitarist shows her abilities and makes a few very welcome Cadenza's which are
indicated << ad libitum >> in Schubert's score. Unfortunately, of the Variations only
those two which are completely written out in Schubert's manuscript are played.
The notes on the record sleeve are signed by Dr. William B. OBER, (New York?).
Matiegka is unknown to him: <<he is not listed in Grove's Dictionary, and it
seems pointless to pursue him further>>. On the other hand, he is well informed
about FLEISCHMANN (1766-1798) who was <<a German composer of the pre-ro-
mantic era who had talent but died young >>. In fact, he was about the same age as
Schubert when he died, not even 32!
A more recent recording was made in 1973 for MPS-BASF (S. 3921811-2)
and is issued together with other works for chamber music by Schubert. It is an
excellent performance and it is the only one which includes all the variations, i.e.
besides the seven variations by Matiegka, also the one by Schubert, especially
written for the cello.
There are still two records which are of interest for the present article: a first
one is the recently issued record Stindchen und Lieder zur Laute und Gitarre
(1975 ?), (Serenades and songs with lute and guitar). The first half of the record is
filled with Schubert songs; naturally, on the first place Schubert's famous
Stindchen: Leiseflehen meine Lieder (cfr. supra!). But the surprise comes when
a song, allegedly by Diabelli, comes in between... The title is Nacht und Triume:
a song which was also set by Schubert and published as his Opus 43, Nr. 2 (D.
827) by Pennauer in July 1825. The text is by Matthaus von Collin, but in the first
edition it was erroneously attributed to Schiller, and so it is on this record! It must
be that the song was arranged for voice and guitar by Diabelli, for the song on this
record is nothing else than Schubert's setting, with a simplified accompaniment
for guitar, probably made Wy Diabelli! - The guitarist, Konrad Ragossnig, who
also wrote the notes on the record-sleeve, mentions the essay Schubert als

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Gitarrist and admits with Deutsch that all publications of Schubert-songs with
guitar are spurious; there is, however, one case in which a Schubert-song was
published with guitar, before it was published with pianoforte, namely Schifers
Klagelied. This, of course, does not mean that Schubert was responsible himself
for the arrangement! On the contrary: three -autographs of this song are still
extant, among them the first draft, and all of them have the pianoforte
accompaniment.
Finally, another recent record brings works by Schubert, Hiittenbrenner,
Matiegka and Hummel: Musik zur Zeit des Biedermeier. It is a recording of a
Concert, given at the Eggenberger Castle near Graz and it is quite interesting for
several reasons. Schubert's works on this record are the Chorusses Die Nacht (D.
983 Nr. 4), Die Nachtigall (D. 724) - with Pf. accompaniment! - and
Nachtgesang im Walde (D. 913).
From Matiegka's Trio, Opus 21 << Nottumo >>, the Minuet and the Zingara are
played. This includes the second trio in the Minuet, which was omitted by
Schubert and replaced by his own composition in his arrangement of the
Nottumo. It is, however, the Zingara, which demonstrates most clearly that
Schubert's arrangement has greatly improved Matiegka's composition. (CALIC
Records: CAL 30 432, Verlag GmbH, Munich).

CONCLUSION

Schubert's so-called Guitar Quartet is, substantially, identical with Ma-

tiegka's Notturno for flute, viola and guitar.
It is, however, not right, to say that Schubert has merely added a violoncello
part; he has thoroughly re-arranged the different parts of the other instruments as
well, even with minor changes in the guitar-part. It is mainly the viola-part which
has been changed.

A few bars from Schubert's arrangement and Matiegka's original

,l^ Fte^ ..; X- (first movement)

Gitarre L

I r9? 'J 'i

Violoncello
z- <itf
S~~~~~~~r' . |7 ,

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 I-.
'm, sr. * - ;- AL Yb-
-0-
. -" ,

y " a -&
As one can see, in these bars the cello has ta en over the flute-part.

Moreover, besides the new (second) trio in the Minuet, at least one new
variation was written, specially for the cello-part.
Other new variations may have been added, but - alas! - this cannot be
proved, since the last pages of the manuscript are lost.

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 LITERATURE

1. SCHMID, Heinrich Kaspar: Franz Schuberts neuentdecktes Quartett. Ein offener Brief.
Zeitschrift fiir Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig, I, Dezember 1918, pp. 183-188.
2. SCHMID, Richard: Zehn Schubert-Liedern zur Gitarre. Schubert als Gitarrist: eine musik-his-
torische Skizze. Verlag Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig N° 9707 (1918).
3. SCHMrTZ, Eugen: Franz Schubert als Gitarrist. Besprechung dazu. Dresdener Nachrichten, 31.
August 1919.
4. SCHWARZ-REIFLINGEN, Erwin: Ein unbekanntes Schubert-Quartett mit Gitarre. Die Gitarre,
(Berlin-Charlottenburg) Jg. 4, Heft 2, November 1922, S. 11-15.
5. KINSKY, Dr. Georg: Franz Schubert. Quartett fur Flote, Gitarre, Bratsche und Violoncell. -
Vorwort. Drei Masken Verlag, Miinchen, 1926; Neuausgabe 1931.
6. ZUTH, Dr. Josef: Handbuch der Laute und Gitarre (1926-1928) Wien, Groll, S. 250-251.
7. MUNK, Hermann: Schubert und die Gitarre. Deutsche Musikzeitung, Jg. 59, Nr. 46, 17
November 1928, S. 1014.
8. ROEMER, Matthaus: Schubert und die Gitarre. Die Stimme, Jg. 23, H. 3, Dezember 1928, S.
66-69.
9. DEUTSCH, Otto Erich: Schubert ohne Gitarre, in: Schubert-Gabe der Oesterreichische
Gitarre-Zeitschrift. Fr. Hofmeister, Wien, (Juni) 1928, S. 18-26.
10. DEUTSCH, Otto Erich: Franz Schubert. Quartett fur Flote, Gitarre, Bratsche und Violoncell.
Besprechung. in: Zeitschrift fir Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig, October 1928, S. 124-126.
11. KINSKY, Dr. Georg: Zu Schuberts Gitarrenquartett. In: Zeitschrift fur Musikwissenschaft,
Leipzig, April 1929, S. 439-441.
12. KINSKY, Dr. Georg: Zu Schuberts Gitarrenquartett, in Nr. 9/10 des 31. Jg. der Monatschrift
<<Der Gitarrenfreund, Miinchen, 1930.
13. SCHWARZ-REIFLINGEN, Erwin: Zu Schuberts Gitarrenquartett. In <Die Gitarre, (Berlin-
Charlottenburg) Jg. XII, Heft 11/12; November-Dezember 1931.
14. RISCHEL, Thorwald: Et Schubert-problem lost! in Dansk Musiktidsskrift, 7. Argang, Nr. 4,
April 1932, pp. 117-121.
15. KINSKY, Dr. Georg: Schuberts Gitarrenquartett. in Zeitschrift fur Musikwissenschaft, Leipzig,
XIV, August 1932, S. 476-478.
16. MARX, Josef: Franz Schubert: Quartett fir Flote, Gitarre, Bratsche und Violoncell. Reprinted
for Peters, New York, 1956. Nr. 6078. - Foreword.

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