Work for string quartet by Schubert performed by musicians from Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Institute on March 30, 2014.Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887Schubert had a gift for miniatures. His art songs offer, often in just 3 to 5 minutes, small slices of life. Their diminutive size belies the richness of their musical and poetic depth.But, as the string quartet we’ll hear demonstrates, Schubert could also scale up, writing chamber works on a scale more often associated with symphonies.His 15th string quartet in G Major, is a perfect example. Performances of just the first movement can often stretch to 20 minutes; the performance we’ll hear today clocks in, in its entirety, at just under 50 minutes. We’ll hear it performed by three young musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, joined by violinist and program director Miriam Fried.This quartet was one of Schubert’s last, followed only by his monumental string quintet in C Major. The piece, like much of his later work, seems to move between extremes, from passionate outbursts to touchingly lyrical passages.With a piece this rich, it’s probably best to let it speak for itself. Here, Schubert’s String Quartet # 15, in G Major.