Lachner wrote his Quartet for Four Violins, Op.107 the year before he died at the age of 87. It was quite near the turn of the 20th century, but Lachner was no late-romantic and he had no desire to be one. After completing the work, he summed up his style: "To the very end, I have been true to the classical composers of Vienna I admired so much." He continually maintained that his goal was to write with the clarity and transparency typified by Mozart and Haydn, combined with the lilting beauty of Schubert. To hear his works, it is clear that in this he succeeded. His place in music is as a "Classicist-Romantic". His quartets achieved considerable popularity in their time by virtue of their fetching melodies, effective harmonies and the ease with which they could be performed.
Ignaz Lachner (1807-1895) was the second of the three famous Lachner brothers. Ignaz was taught (as were the others) organ, piano and violin. Upon the latter instrument, he was somewhat of a prodigy. He eventually joined his older brother Franz in Vienna where he became a close friend of Schubert's and fell under the influence of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. He composed a considerable amount of music, much of it chamber music, including seven string quartets and six piano trios.
The work is in four movements and begins with an exciting Allegro moderato. A tender Andante follows and then comes a jovial Allegro giocoso. The work is topped off by a fleet Allegro vivo.
