The thought of leaving the beautiful weather outside and going indoors to hear music may seem crazy at this time of year, but the schedule this week offers some irresistible opportunities to do just that. At the top of the list is chamber music, much of it free.

Henschel Quartet

STRING QUARTETS:
>> On Wednesday (April 14, 8 p.m.) the Library of Congress will present a free concert by the Henschel Quartet, a young string quartet from Munich. They will play music by two composers celebrating important anniversaries this year, Robert Schumann and Samuel Barber. You can reserve tickets in advance through Ticketmaster, for the usual fees, or show up early and wait on line for an unused seat.

>> On Friday the Library of Congress will also present a free concert by two string quartets who have recently struck up a collaboration, the Alexander and Afiara Quartets (April 16, 8 p.m.), with music by Martinů, Shostakovich, and others. Then, on Saturday afternoon (April 17, 2 p.m.), the Alexander Quartet will give a lecture-concert on one of the Beethoven quartets, op. 130, which is an area of specialization for the ensemble.

>> How to choose? One of my favorite ensembles, the Takács Quartet, will also perform a concert on Friday night (April 16, 8 p.m.), presented by WPAS in the Music Center at Strathmore. The program includes quartets by two of their best composers, Haydn and Beethoven, plus Schumann’s E-flat piano quintet, in which they will be joined by pianist Joyce Yang.

>> If that is still not enough string quartet for you, there is also the Axelrod Quartet, which will play as part of their Smithsonian Resident Associates series, on both Saturday (April 17, 8 p.m.) and Sunday (April 18, 7:30 p.m.). They will perform at the Renwick Gallery on precious rare instruments from the Smithsonian’s collection, matched string quartets made by Stradivari and Amati.