Between 1818 and 1823, his “years of crisis,” Schubert avoided what many consider the most challenging genre of chamber music—with one exception. In 1820, he completed a single, restless quartet movement in C minor, for which Beethoven’s “Quartetto serioso” Op. 95, written four years earlier, might have served as the model. The Chiaroscuro Quartet combines these two works with Felix Mendelssohn’s A-minor Quartet from 1827, the year of Beethoven’s death. By incorporating a number of musical references, the 18-year-old composer pays homage to the late master with this score.