The Spanish ambassadors

Full-time quartets are, perhaps unsurprisingly, a fairly recent phenomenon in a country of individualists such as Spain. The precious few ensembles that were active in the 20th century were mostly made up of orchestral principals who did some chamber music on the side. This was the case with, say, the Cassadó and Hispánico Numen quartets, which formed during the last quarter of the century. The Casals Quartet is a different proposition. Founded as a student group, it has been active for more than ten years, touring regularly in Europe, the US and Japan. It has also been prolific in the studio, with a seventh Harmonia Mundi disc in as many years set for release this month.

The Casals was founded in 1997 at the initiative of Catalan cellist Arnau Tomàs. At the time, he was studying at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (see feature, page 40), as were the other founding members: his violinist brother Abel, violinist Vera Martínez and violist Andoni Mercero. They were all in Antonello Farulli’s chamber music class at the Reina Sofía, but soon felt the need to further their studies. ‘I wanted to obtain a diploma,’ says Martínez, ‘but, because the Reina Sofía is a private institution, its diplomas aren’t validated by the Spanish government.

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