Carducci Quartet & Roderick Williams

He writes: “I have a very strong memory of an A-level music class in my sixth form, when we were presented with a score of Schubert’s G Major Quartet, first movement to analyse ‘unseen.’ The sounds and textures that I attempted to imagine off the page bewildered me; I could not believe how modern the writing was, both in Schubert’s use of his instruments and in his harmonic daring.  

This memory returned as I began exploring the idea of arranging Die schöne Müllerin for string quartet. This is no attempt to improve on or supersede the original. At best, it is an act of homage, an avenue for me as a musician to explore a piece that has gripped my attention for the past ten years that I have been singing it professionally.  

It gives me a chance to expand the repertoire for voice and string quartet.  

The transcription process was fairly straightforward, in that Schubert’s piano textures contain many hints towards part writing: the cello obviously takes the bass line, and the second violin and viola often share duties in providing the harmony. This sometimes left me with the first violin available for counter melodies. It is here that I most often overstepped the role of transcriber and became a fledgling composer. I created occasional singing lines at the top of the texture, and in retrospect wondered whether this might have afforded an opportunity for the cycle’s title character to have more of a voice.  

I hope to have remained faithful to the style and spirit of Schubert (no Bartok pizzicatos or micro tunings here) and that this arrangement will attract a new audience, perhaps more versed in string chamber music, to a piece that has beguiled and delighted me and so many others.”