SCHUBERT: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 7

The string quartets and trios heard here were written when Franz Schubert was still only a teenager in Vienna. At the time, Schubert was receiving instruction from the famed Court Kapellmeister Antonio Salieri and playing in a string quartet with his family. (He played viola and piano.) Of note are the Five Minuets and Six Trios, which see Schubert working in miniature with his elegant and, perhaps more importantly, catchy melodies. Listen carefully and you can hear the ensemble casually pluck the notes while the violin bows the melody during the third Minuet. Schubert's short career is filled with these sorts of delights — but these are some of the best.