Brunetti | String Quartets Op. 3

Until recently, there were hardly any references to the origins of the string quartet in Spain in musical literature. This absence has been partly due to insufficient knowledge of facts and sources. However, we now know that the genre enjoyed the favor of amateur enthusiasts, as evidenced by the numerous advertisements for the sale of quartets that were published in the Spanish press from the early 1770s onwards. Furthermore, a remarkable corpus of quartets has been discovered which refutes this misconception of the period. In addition to the numerous quartets by Boccherini and Brunetti, quartets by Juan Pedro Almeida Mota, Manuel Canales, Enrique Ataide y Portugal, José Teixidor, and José María Reynoso have survived, to which isolated quartets by various musicians must be added. However, despite the evidence of quartet cultivation on Hispanic ground, music lovers still have to overcome deep-rooted prejudices. One of them is the nationalism that has excluded from Spanish music history composers such as Boccherini or Brunetti, whose careers unfolded within the context of Spanish institutions.

These two composers are precisely the ones who cultivated the quartet genre in Spain in the most intense and extended fashion, being Boccherini, moreover, one of the protagonists of its emergence and consolidation throughout Europe. A second prejudice lies in the central role that the Viennese quartet occupies in the canon of so-called “classicism”. According to a conventional view, the “true” string quartet, as embodied in Haydn’s Op. 33 and Mozart’s “Haydn” quartets, has characteristics that place it at the pinnacle of the chamber music scene. The string quartet would be characterized by having four contrasting and interconnected movements, the prominence of the sonata form, exhibiting a conscientious motivic work and giving the four instruments an independent and equal treatment. This model has served as a measure to evaluate the quartets composed during the second half of the 18th century. Quartets with two or three movements, which prioritize melodic allure or the juxtaposition of attractive melodies, that emphasize contrasts of timbre, dynamics and texture, or seek to dazzle through the virtuosity of the performers, are judged as immature or imperfect pieces. Boccherini, Brunetti, as well as other musicians who worked in Spain, chose to follow paths that distanced them from the model that is nowadays considered canonical, but are no less valid for that reason.

[1 - 2] String Quartet in C Major L 158

[3 - 4] String Quartet in A Major L 157

[5 - 6] String Quartet in E flat Major L 160

[7 - 8] String Quartet in G Major L 161

[9 - 10] String Quartet in F Major L 156

[11 - 12] String Quartet in A Major L 159