IGNAZ PLEYEL (1757-1831): String Quartets in C and in F, Op. 41, 1/2 and in G and B Flat, Op. 42, 1/2 (First Recordings).

Description: The first Pleyel release in a while not to be part of Ars Produktion’s big series brings four quartets written during or just after the composer’s 1792 trip to London. Things British were all the rage in continental Europe (Haydn’s earliest British folk song settings date from the same year) and Pleyel does his part here. Each pair has a two-movement and a three-movement quartet; the first movements of all are eight- to nine-minute allegros in sonata form while all the rest are either slow or fast ecossaises based on Scottish folk music. Authentic Quartet.