One of the most important figures in Russian music of the late 19th century was Sergei Taneyev, born 13 November 1856 in Vladimir, a city 200 km east of Moscow. He entered the Moscow Conservatory as a nine-year-old in 1866, shortly after it was founded. Just two years later, Nikolai Rubinstein accepted him into his class and trained him to become a first-class pianist and performer.

Taneyev also joined the harmony class of P.I. Tchaikovsky with whom he would form a lifelong friendship. Later in life, he in turn became one of the most influential teachers of the period. His numerous pupils included such diverse personalities as Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Glière.

Taneyev was not a prolific writer. He was a seeker who listened to himself and proceeded very cautiously. He rejected everything conventional, shallow, and cheap. Just how critical he was of himself can be seen from the fact that only 36 works of his vast oeuvre, which includes symphonies, an opera, many vocal works and chamber music, were given an opus number.

These include six string quartets, two string trios and two string quintets.

He began writing his First String Quartet, op.4, in the summer of 1889. The work is dedicated to Tchaikovsky who received it enthusiastically. It was played frequently in Moscow and St Petersburg in the 1890s and performed throughout Europe by the most famous string quartet of the time, the Bohemian String Quartet. Its five-movement structure is unusual.

The Fourth String Quartet, op.11, in A minor was composed in 1898/99, after Taneyev had completed and successfully performed his Symphony in C minor. Initial reticence towards his music had turned into respectful admiration. His string quartets were praised for their high quality and performed regularly. The A minor Quartet is unique in its unity.

Through contrapuntal work, he developed a thematic network from individual motifs that covers the entire piece. But despite all the intellectual rigour, its musicality is not neglected.

The Adagio in particular, despite all its technical sophistication, captivates with its deep emotions and provides beautiful proof that Taneyev has masterfully succeeded in fusing construction and emotion.