FRANZ XAVER RICHTER (1709-1789): 7 String Quartets, Op. 5.

Description: here is not much information about Richter before 1769 so we do not know how such mature string quartets, in complexity, harmony and balance far beyond what Haydn was writing at the time they were first published (1768), could have appeared out of nowhere. And Richter never wrote any others. The notes here hypothesize a c.1757 date for their original composition which puts them before any quartets by Haydn or Boccherini (possible evidence is provided by Dittersdorf in his memoirs). Regardless, they are a must have for anyone interested in the classical string quartet even if they were to prove not to be the first of their type. 2 CDs. casalQuartett.