For it to happen to a composer of exceptional promise is the more tragic for the art he was to serve. Arriaga was second fiddle in a string quartet at nine years of age, and two years later wrote an octet. It is useless to speculate what this young composer might have risen to in maturity. Suffice to accept what he wrote before he died of tubercolosis on 17 January 1826. Arriaga puts imagination level with craft skills, which is not an original thought, yet often overlooked in the overall mix that should represent quality.
Every hearing allows a bit more understanding of a movement, both pattern and invention.
There would be something amiss if the Arriaga Quartet did less than justice to Arriaga's music. This is a fine and expansive account of three quartets that repay the attentions of any music lover. To listen to the aural illustrations in this review, you may need to download RealNetworks' realplayer 8.