Both sleeve and label announce that this is the Urfassung (''Original Version'') of Der Tod und das Madchen but Schubertians eager for something they never knew existed, should not count on surprises. Schubert wrote the quartet in 1824, and after hearing a private performance in 1826 ''cut part of the first movement and made other alterations'', says Deutsch in his Documentary Biography and elsewhere, but it seems that what survives of the 1824 manuscript does not support his statement, and I can detect no difference in substance between what is played on this record and what other ensembles play. And if there are minor differences, it is wrong of the sleeve-note to make no mention of them.
However, the record is excellent value for money. To get both these works on to one LP without loss of quality is a triumph. The A minor has been offered before on one side, but here, exceptionally, the first movement repeat is played, which means we get five extra bars. There are almost 72 minutes of music in all. A quickish tempo in the slow movement of the A minor, the one with the Rosamunde tune, helps, and though some will find it a shade too quick I prefer this to the over-indulgence of the Quartetto Italiano (Philips). There is a pleasing tenderness here, as also in the first movement. No first repeat in the D minor, but the unusually substantial backing makes this version a very good buy; the Quartettsatz is over-used when the D minor needs a turnover after the second movement, as in the Amadeus (DG) and Vermeer (Teldec) records. The playing is highly competent, the variations pondered on without sentimentality, the coda of the finale dispatched with striking brilliance. Perhaps it is worth a mention that the Berg Quartett first recorded the A minor in 1975, and this version is still in the catalogue (Telefunken AW6 41882, 6/75).'