For the finale volume in their splendid cycle, the Kodály Quartet open with the familiar Quartettsatz, then set off with spirit and élan into the engaging two-movement B flat Quartet, D. 68 (written when Schubert was 16) and continue with various novelties, including an Overture for string quintet written for two years before the early quartet. Playing and recording are well up to the high standard of this illustrious series.

This collection brings the Kodály Quartet’s Schubert cycle to a close. It’s an indispensable collection for one work alone—the single-movement known as the Quartettsatz, D.103. This is said to be a part of a no-longer-surviving complete quartet, but as performed here, it is perfect unto itself. Its brevity (only a little more than eight minutes) does not stop it from being one of Schubert’s most significant works, and the Kodály play it with artistry and precision. …The 2005 recording is clear and with a natural acoustic sweetness which presents the quartet’s members in the best possible light.