Out of Our Minds Chamber Music – Artaria Strings Quartet | Viterbo Fine Arts Center
Concert 4 – Happy 40th Anniversary, Take One!
Sunday, February 1, 2026 @ 3:00 PM
Viterbo University Nola Starling Recital Hall
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
Artaria String Quartet
CROSSING PATHS WITH THE SCHUMANN’S
The Schumann’s occupied a central position in the musical life of early Romanticism, surrounded by composers whose ideas, friendships, and artistic ideals profoundly shaped one another’s work. Rather than a single stylistic school, this circle formed a living conversation—about poetry, form, emotion, and the expressive potential of instrumental music. These two programs trace those intersections, revealing how deeply personal experiences and artistic exchange informed some of the nineteenth century’s most enduring chamber works.
Across these two programs, Crossing Paths with the Schumann’s reveals a musical world defined by dialogue—between composers, genres, and personal experience. Together, these works illuminate how friendship, influence, and shared artistic values shaped the Romantic chamber music tradition at its most profound and human.
PROGRAM I
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
String Quartet in A major, Op.41 No.3 (1842)
Andante espressivo – Allegro molto moderato
Assai agitato
Adagio molto
Finale. Allegro molto vivace – Quasi Trio
NOTES:
The year 1842 marked a decisive turning point for Robert Schumann. After years devoted largely to piano music and song, he immersed himself in the study of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, producing three string quartets that blend Classical discipline with Romantic expressiveness. The A-major quartet, the most expansive of the set, reflects Schumann’s belief that chamber music could unite formal rigor with poetic imagination.
The opening movement unfolds from a reflective Andante espressivo into a flowing Allegro, establishing a dialogue between introspection and momentum that shapes the entire work. The second movement, Assai agitato, brings nervous energy and rhythmic urgency, while the Adagio molto offers one of Schumann’s most inward and tender slow movements. The finale combines buoyant vitality with playful contrast, including a quasi-Trio that recalls Schumann’s love of character pieces and sudden shifts of mood.
Though Schumann revered Beethoven, it was Franz Schubert—whose music he tirelessly promoted—who offered an alternative Romantic path: one grounded in lyricism and emotional candor. That lineage comes fully into focus in the second half of this program.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
String Quartet in D minor, D.810 “Death & the Maiden” (March 1824)
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo. Allegro molto
Presto
NOTES: Composed during a period of serious illness and emotional distress, Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet confronts themes of mortality with uncompromising intensity. The work takes its title from the second movement, a set of variations on Schubert’s earlier song in which Death gently addresses a frightened young woman. In the quartet, that quiet dialogue becomes the emotional core of a vast, dramatic structure.
The opening Allegro erupts with stark unisons and relentless tension, while the Scherzo drives forward with almost ferocious force. The final Presto suggests a grim dance, propelled by urgency and fatal momentum. Yet amid the darkness, Schubert’s gift for song remains ever present, especially in the variations of the Andante con moto.
Robert Schumann was among the earliest to recognize the magnitude of Schubert’s achievement, famously describing him as a composer of “heavenly length.” This quartet exemplifies the emotional depth and formal ambition that Schumann sought to carry forward into his own chamber music.
ABOUT ARTARIA STRING QUARTET
“Minnesota’s foremost teaching and performing string quartet”, the Artaria String Quartet is an “exceptional ensemble with impressive confidence in its interpretations”. Winners of the prestigious 2004 McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, Artaria was featured on Twin Cities Public Television as part of the Minnesota Originals series and was named 2013-14 Minnesota Public Radio Artists-in-Residence.
Artaria was formed in Boston and mentored by members of the venerable Kolisch and Juilliard Quartets. Their “refined and thoughtful playing” brought them to the attention of Alexander Schneider, violinist of the legendary Budapest Quartet, who invited them to make their New York debut on his own New School Concert Series. Since then, they have performed at major venues throughout the United States and Europe, on national television and public radio, and at top international music festivals.
In 1992, Artaria competed at the 4th Banff International String Quartet Competition in Banff, Canada. Earning numerous awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Minnesota State Arts Board for excellence in performance and educational outreach, Artaria are founders of the highly regarded Artaria Chamber Music School in Saint Paul, MN, Stringwood Summer Chamber Music Festival, in Lanesboro, MN, and the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, an international showcase for top-tier collegiate and pre-college string quartets hosted each April in Sundin Music Hall.
This season, they are celebrating their 40th year of chamber music performing and educating.