A small collection of strong works of chamber music. An early Beethoven, part of the three string quartets under the opus number 18, the particularly beautiful third piano quartet by Brahms, and then there is this peculiar short fragment called Notturno by Schubert. I forgot about it, and while listening to it I realised I shouldn’t.
Schubert wrote his two piano trios just the year before his death. Probably he wrote a slow movement for the first (B flat major, D.898) and then found out it didn’t fit the larger composition. He put it aside, and went on with the process of dying. Two decades after his death it was found again, and was published posthumously under the opus number 148 and the title Notturno. It is also known as Adagio, because that what it is, tempo-wise.
As short as it is, it does start out with a really beautiful theme that is characteristic of Schubert, but does have some curious rhythmic traits that support the dreamy melodic line in a most interesting way. Legend has it this was based on a rural folk tune Schubert picked up while vacationing in the east of Salzburg.