Three moving works for string quartet showcase the powerful expressive potential of these instruments in the hands of a master composer. The program opens with the single movement Quartettsatz by the 23-year old Franz Schubert. Originally composed as the opening movement of what was to be a multi-movement string quartet, the work could have been lost had Johannes Brahms not recognized its brilliance and arranged for a posthumous premiere. The centerpiece of the program is another single movement from a larger work, the iconic Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. Composed when Barber was 26 as the second movement of his String Quartet Op. 11, the searing music is one of the most poignant in the repertoire, with many references in movies and popular culture.   Anton Arensky was 31 when he dedicated his brilliant String Quartet No. 2 “to the memory of Tchaikovsky”, whose death 2 years earlier had profoundly affected Arensky. The work is unique in that it is scored for two cellos rather than two violins, lending an extra darkness to this deeply affecting music.