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Up until the late 19th Century, the string quartet was the exclusive property of the German-speaking world. Then the Italians, French, Hungarians, Czechs and Russians got into the game.
Giuseppe Verdi – Joe Green in English – wrote this quartet in a hotel room in Naples while awaiting the revival of two of his operas, and the premier was given in that hotel room by four musicians from the opera house pit orchestra. I played the scherzo a few weeks ago, but here is the first movement. Right away, you can hear that Joe is using the language of the opera house.