[Op. 58, no. 2]. Trois Quatuors pour deux Violons, Viola et Violoncelle Composés et Dédiés à Son Ami Guillaume Speyer à Offenbach... Oeuv. 58. No. [II]. Rthlr. 1.16 gr. [Parts]

Leipzig: Bureau de Musique de C.F. Peters [PN 1714], 1823. Folio. Disbound. Violino primo: 1f. (title), [1] (blank), 2-13, [i] (blank) pp.; Violino secondo: [1] (blank), 2-10 pp.; Viola: [1] (blank), 2-10 pp.; Violoncello: [1] (blank), 2-9, [i] (blank) pp. Engraved. Uncut.

Slightly worn and browned; occasional foxing and soiling to margins; "6" in ink in contemporary manuscript to upper right corner of title, with two small circular handstamps to lower margin. First Edition, [?]first issue of Spohr's 17th quartet, in A minor. Göthel p. 103. WorldCat (1 copy only in the U.S., at the Harvard Musical Assocation).

"The largest portion of Spohr's chamber music was for strings alone, ranging from 19 unsurpassed duos for two violins to four masterly, and largely unemulated, double string quartets. These, together with the 36 string quartets (and several other works for the same combination), seven string quintets and the String Sextet of 1848, display a number of common features. Spohr's own mastery of the violin is evident in all of them, and their technical difficulties, together with the particular style of performance necessary to secure their full effect, may partly explain their infrequent performance. The quartets, especially, fall into two distinct categories: solo quartets in the tradition of Rode (often entitled Quatuor brillant), which are essentially violin concertos with string trio accompaniment, and true quartets where the interest is more evenly divided between the instruments." Clive Brown in Grove Music Online.