The acclaimed Emerson String Quartet released a box with three CDs with some of Schubert's most famous works for string quartet, supplemented by the no less famous "String Quintet D.956" (recordings: 1987-1996). The "String Quartet in a D.804" owes its nickname "Rosamunde" to the slow movement, whose theme comes from the incidental music of the same name. Something similar applies to the "Quartet
… D.810", nicknamed "Der Tod und das Madchen", the second part of which is a series of variations on the said song. The beautiful "Quartettsatz in C D.703" is Schubert's most famous unfinished composition after the "Unfinished" symphony. The "String Quartet in G D.887" is also Schubert's last string quartet. Finally, the "String Quintet D.703", is one of those works that are always mentioned when a lover of classical music is asked what he or she wants to take to an imaginary desert island. The instrumentation is striking, with two cellos instead of two violas. The Emmerson String Quartet is assisted in this performance by none other than Mstislav Rostropovich. (HJ) _more