Roffredo Caetani (1871-1961) was born into a noble family in Italy. His godfather was nobody less than Franz Liszt, who first recognized his musical talent,...

Roffredo Caetani (1871-1961) was born into a noble family in Italy. His godfather was nobody less than Franz Liszt, who first recognized his musical talent, and who entrusted him to the care of his own pupil Sgambati. Caetani’s first string quartet was written when he was eighteen years old, modeled on the middle quartets by Beethoven. Twenty years later he wrote his second string quartet, an homage to his great inspiration Franz List. The work is in one continuous movement using the Hungarian scale, lending a unity to the melodic material. The Alauda Quartet was founded in 2011 by students at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since then they have performed in such venues as the Purcell Room of the Queen Elisabeth Hall and the church of St. Martin In The Fields.