ROFFREDO CAETANI (1871-1961): String Quartets in D, Op. 1/1 and in F Minor, Op. 12.

Description: Born into a noble family in Italy, Caetani’s godfather was nobody less than Franz Liszt, who first recognized his musical talent, and who entrusted him to the care of his own pupil Sgambati. Caetani’s first string quartet was written when he was eighteen years old, modeled on the middle quartets by Beethoven. Twenty years later he wrote his second string quartet, an homage to Liszt, his great inspiration. The work is in one continuous movement using the Hungarian scale, lending a unity to the melodic material. See our April 2014 catalogue (04P053) for an 80-minute disc of Caetani’s piano music from this same label. Alauda Quartet.