The Echéa Quartet was formed in 2017 at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and has rapidly established a reputation as an outstanding young ensemble, winning the Royal Overseas League chamber music competition 2021 and several other prizes. They have performed at international festivals and appeared on BBC Radio 3.

Schubert’s Quartettsatz was written as the first movement of a planned quartet, which remained unfinished.

Haydn’s six string quartets, op. 20, represent a key milestone in the history of the form; here Haydn established the concept of four equal voices in conversation, and developed techniques and structures that were to define the string quartet for the next 200 years. Beethoven and Brahms both studied the score of these works in detail.

Beethoven’s three ‘Rasumovsky’ quartets, op. 59, were commissioned by the Russian ambassador in Vienna, and each includes a ‘Russian’ theme. The set marks another milestone: here Beethoven takes the quartet form to a whole new level of intensity, virtuosity and profundity.