Quartet de corda núm. 4

Amadeu Cuscó i Panadés was born in Esparraguera in 1876. He joined the Escolania de Montserrat in 1885. Later, in Barcelona, he studied at the Escola de Música, where he studied piano under Master Pellicer, and harmony and composition under Amadeu Vives and Enric Morera. He played the organ at Sant Francesc’s parish in Barcelona after being appointed chapel master in Sitges.

He was first known as a composer whith the premiere of Trisagio for Choir and Orchestra in 1923 at the Escoles Pies de Sarrià. There is also proof that the Hague Quartet premiered his first quartet around Europe that same year.
He spent those years accompanying violinists like Francesc Costa; he was a pioneer with his trio at Radio Barcelona, and the chapel master at Mare de Déu dels Àngels church.
In 1926, he was awarded the National Fine Arts Award in Madrid, the Ministerio de Instrucción Pública award in 1930, and the Ateneo Sevillano award in 1931. It is said that, in Madrid, he went to El Prado museum, forgot to go the Ministry awards ceremony and went back to Barcelona without the prize. Outside Catalonia, he only recieved awards for his symphonic works. Contrarily, he was only przed for his chamber works there. In 1928, he was awarded the Premi Patxot by the Rabell Fundation for his third quartet, and the Felip Pedrell prize in 1933 for his fifth one,
It is generally thought that his friendship with the Quartet Ibèric (Ferran Guerin, Josep Donce - violin - Gracià Tarragó - viola - and Ferran Pérez Prió - violoncello) made him compose the five quartets we now have in the Cuscó Fund at the Orfeó Català Library. Unusual as it was, some dictionaries speak of seven quartets, yet only five survive.

The first quartet is dedicated to Gracià Tarragó, the quartet's viola, the second to the Quartet Ibèric, the third to the Quartet Ibèric and Santiago Blanch, the fourth to Salvador Soler Forment - a poet from Sitges -, and the fifth to Juan Gimeno. Most of those were dedicated a posteriori, in an incomplete collection of his quartets. The latter were modified versions of the older versions that still survive.
The fourth quartet has four parts, clearly influenced by Beethoven’s op. 59 quartets, which Cuscó probably listened to, played by the Quartet Ibèric.
I would like to specially thank to the Centre de Documentació de l’Orfeó Català and the personel at the Biblioteca de l’Orfeó Català for facilitating my work with the Cuscó fund.
Abili Fort, June 2013