# Brunetti - String Quartet in B Flat Major (1792) (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Brunetti was born in Fano, a small town in Italy, and moved to Spain with his family before his twenties. Soon, Brunetti’s talents as a musician (he was a fine violinist) and composer made him a favourite of the Spanish royal family and he became the later King Carlos IV's violin teacher. In fact, the King adored Brunetti’s chamber works so much that Brunetti's works were exclusively used by him and the royal family (he became the royal composer). Whilst this initially worked for him (he was well paid by the King for his works) it also meant that his works were neglected after his death as few of his chamber works were published. 
The B-flat major quartet was written in 1792 and may possibly be the last of Brunetti’s 50 or so quartets before he concentrated his efforts on writing string quintets. Interestingly in the 1st movement, Allegro moderato, there is no primary theme but a host of small motifs that appear, disappear or re-appear throughout. Like many quartets of the time, the first violin features prominently here and this nice movement is followed by a lovely and slightly melancholy Largo sosenuto with its gentle tempo that draws to a serene close. The opening melody of the fine 3rd movement, Minuetto, is much more Haydnesque in nature and highly enjoyable. The finale, a quirky Allegro molto, closes out the quartet really well with its dominant 1st violin laying down the melody. The violin continues to develop this melody until a brief duet with the cello but soon the violin takes centre stage again with the other instruments providing simple accompaniment. This folk-inspired movement sounds almost bucolic and its hard not to imagine a casual rustic get-together as the violins first play perfectly in unison and then slightly out of tune. 
This is an attractive quartet that won't set your world alight but is certainly very pleasant (as are most of Brunetti's quartets). Give it a go. 
Only one recording here and that's from the excellent *Schuppanzigh Quartet*. The level of detail in their performance is really high and there's great transparency im this fine account accompanied by CPO's clear, dry recording. The quality of ensemble playing is particularly impressive in the finale and even if there was competition this would be a tough recording to beat.


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