The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as Death
and the Maiden, by Franz Schubert, is one of the
pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in
1824, after the composer suffered through a serious
illness and realized that he was dying, it is
Schubert's testament to death. The quartet is named for
the theme of the second movement, which Schubert took
from a song he wrote in 1817 of the same title; but the
theme of death is palpable in all four movements of the
quartet. (Wikipedia)