I have tried my hand at several instrumental works, for I wrote two quartets for violins, viola and ‘cello, and an octet, and I want to write another quartet, in fact, I intend to pave my way towards [a] grand symphony in that manner . . . Thus wrote Franz Schubert on 31 March 1824 to his friend, the painter, Leopold Kupelwieser. The ‘grand symphony’ is understood to mean the ‘Great’ C major Symphony (D944) which we habitually number his Ninth. The two completed quartets mentioned are the ‘Rosamunde’ Quartet in A minor (D804) and the ‘Death and the Maiden’ Quartet in D minor (D8 io ). The octet is catalogued as D803 and the proposed quartet is the G major Quartet (D887). This latter work was not composed until 1826 and therefore may not have contributed to the composition of the ‘Great’ C major Symphony of 1825-1826.