In the summer of 1838 Felix Mendelssohn is 29 years old. He just married Cécile and became the father of a little boy. He probably has been in the right mood to compose a predominantly lighthearted string quartet.

Music to make you happy

Edvard Grieg may have been in a less elated mood in 1878 when he wrote his string quartet in G minor. It is brilliant how he fits the Norwegian color in a dazzling Italian dance rhythm in the final! Amateur violinist Count Rasumovsky, the Tsar's envoy and Beethoven's patron, ordered three string quartets. The innovative music was, unfortunately, too difficult for him to play. The super professional Doric String Quartet knows what to do with this first cheerfully filled quartet, known for the compelling ‘thème Russe’.