Pleyel was primarily a composer of instrumental works and cultivated most of the major genres of his time. As Haydn's star pupil he naturally composed symphonies and string quartets and indeed his first published set of quartets won the admiration of no less a figure than Mozart. All of the works on this recording demonstrate a similar level of compositional mastery and a freshness and vitality comparable to the works of his early career. In some respects these duos represent Pleyel's farewell to the eighteenth century.