Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola – Quartet No.3 in E flat major

Known as the “Spanish Mozart”, at the age of 16, Arriaga wrote three sparkling and idiomatic string quartets that were published in 1824, and were the only works of his published during his lifetime.

Arriaga’s music is “elegant, accomplished and notable for its harmonic warmth” (New Grove Concise Dictionary of Music). His greatest works are undoubtedly the three string quartets, which (like his predecessors D. Scarlatti, Soler and Boccherini) contain notably Spanish ethnic rhythmic and melodic elements.

No. 3 in E-flat major (a tender G major lullaby for the newborn Christ child). Periodwise, his style is on the borderline between late Classicism and early Romanticism, ranging from the late Classical idiom of Mozart to the proto-Romanticism of early Beethoven.

Read more about Arriaga (1806 – 1826) on Wikipedia

Watch the Arriaga Quartet No 3 as played by the  Quiroga Quartet on YouTube

Anton Bruckner – Quartet in C minor

Known primarily for symphonies and choral works, a String Quartet in C minor Bruckner composed in 1862 was discovered decades after Bruckner’s death.

Read more about Anton Bruckner (1824 – 1896) on Wikipedia

Read about the Bruckner Quartet on Wikipedia

Watch the Bruckner Quartet as played by the  Filarmonica Quartet on YouTube

Felix Mendelssohn – String Quartet No 3 in D major – Op.44-1

Read about Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 –1847) on Wikipedia

Read a brief overview of the Mendelssohn Quartet Op 44, No 1 on Wikipedia

Watch the Mendelssohn Quartet Op 44, No 1 as played at the Yellow Barn Festival – on YouTube

Listen to a 1960 recording on YouTube of the Fine Arts Quartet playing the Mendelssohn Quartet Op 44, No 1