Viotti – Three Quartets Dedicated to His Brother (WII: 13–15)

Regarded by the composer himself as a chamber masterpiece—he described them as «réellement charmants, plusque celà même»—the three quartets without opus number were composed in 1812 and most likely published in 1817. All are cast in four expansive movements and combine, with naturalness and effectiveness, the Franco-Italian traditions of the quatuor concertant and the quatuor brillant with the innovative, fully mature compositional principles of the Viennese chamber-music tradition. The performers are therefore called upon not only to display their virtuosity, but also to engage in a poised and tightly woven dialogue, grounded in fairly elaborate counterpoint and imitation and further shaped by a carefully calibrated succession of tempo indications.