III. Adagio

Even if a composer's external and internal 'biographies' do not always proceed in parallel, in Schubert's case it is remarkable that his departure from the Imperial and Royal City College and the beginning of his training as a teacher at the 'Normal-Hauptschule' coincides with an equally striking turning point in his work. Nowhere can this leap in his stylistic development be seen more clearly than in this string quartet. The thematic invention and structure are well suited to the special requirements of string quartet writing, and thus distance the work from the more or less orchestral style of his early string quartets.