The composer Juan Arriaga was born in Bilbao on 27 January 1806. He studied and worked in Paris from his mid-teens, and died there just short of his 20th birthday. According to his father Arriaga composed his first piece at the age of 11, and his Op. 1 an Overture was written in 1818, scored for a wind and string nonet. In 1819 Arriaga's opera Los esclavos felices appeared, of which only fragments remain. There were additionally some piano pieces, motets and patriotic hymns, amounting to about 20 works by 1821. In September of that year Arriaga left Spain. He met the Spanish ambassador in Paris, and the composer Cherubini, at that time one of the inspectors of the Paris Conservatoire. There he was admitted to the counterpoint class of a newly appointed professor Francois-Joseph FÃ©tis (1784-1871), and to the violin class of Pierre Baillot. His Conservatoire prizes included those for counterpoint and fugue in both 1823 and 1824 - the year that FÃ©tistook him as a teaching assistant. During these years Arriaga revised, and perhaps destroyed, several earlier works as well as producing a regular flow of new compositions. The three string quartets, probably written before 1822, were published in 1824. This exploration of his works was recorded in 1954 by The Aeolian Quartet.

Tracklist:

String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: II. Adagio Con Espressione
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: III. Menuetto & Trio
String Quartet No. 1 In D Minor: IV. Adagio - Allegretto
String Quartet No. 2 In A Major: I. Allegro Con Brio
String Quartet No. 2 In A Major: II. Andante
String Quartet No. 2 In A Major: III. Menuetto & Trio; Scherzo
String Quartet No. 2 In A Major: IV. Andante Ma Non Troppo - Allegro
String Quartet No. 3 In E-Flat Major: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 3 In E-Flat Major: II. Pastorale. Andantino
String Quartet No. 3 In E-Flat Major: III. Menuetto & Trio
String Quartet No. 3 In E-Flat Major: IV. Presto Agitato

UPC: 5020926911728
Label: Cameo Classics
Release Date: 8.7.20
Format: CD

Arriaga / Aeolian Quartet - Three String Quartets (CD)