Third in the series of Op. 13 string quartets by Czech-born composer and violinist Václav Pichl (1741–1805), this edition was completed just before Christopher Hogwood died in September 2014. Pichl, who spent much of his working life in Vienna and Milan, impressed not only the Empress Maria Theresa, who preferred him to Mozart, but also Joseph Haydn, who had a set of his ‘new quartets’ copied in 1780. Like previous works in the series, this quartet exploits each instrument equally and offers an attractive alternative to the standard, and better-known, Viennese works of the period.

“The friends with whom I performed Pichl’s quartet in E flat all commented on its attractiveness and interest, particularly as a result of the challenges it poses. There is a genuine concertante dimension to this music, in which everyone has a time to shine (the cellist has some particularly interesting moments to contend with). According to Hogwood’s excellent Introduction, this is characteristic of all three quartets in the set. The music was compared with that of Boccherini several times during our rehearsals, although Haydn’s music is perhaps the more obvious parallel. Pichl’s style is delightfully inventive.” The Consort