TOMÁS BRETÓN (1850-1923): String Quartets No. 3 in E Minor (First Recording) and No. 1 in D.

Description: Breton’s distinguished career as an opera composer and leading figure in Madrid’s musical life at the turn of the 20th century has tended to overshadow the significant contribution he made to Spanish chamber music. He remained true to the historic roots of the string quartet genre - his First (1904) being a tribute to the Viennese tradition in its Classical poise. The 1909 Third exudes Mendelssohnian inspiration in its first movement with overtly Spanish idiom, the Allegro no mucho (no, really!) third movement also having been turned into a version for piano trio as the Scherzo andalou. Bretón String Quartet.