The Leighton String Quartet:
Irene Richards (violin)
Ruth Pearl (violin) Jean Stewart (viola)
Vera Canning (violoncello)
Tchaikovsky's String Quartet in D, Op. 11, was written in February, 1871, and first performed on March 28 of that year at a concert given with the deliberate purpose of raising money for a holiday. It was necessary to arouse interest by a new work ; Tchaikovsky could not afford to engage an orchestra ; so despite his faint dislike of chamber music in general, he decided on a quartet.
Although produced in such unfavourable circumstances, the Quartet is not only beautifully written but has for its slow movement one of the most popular quartet pieces ever written: the famous andante cantabile, based on a beautiful Russian folk melody.