Many of Bernhard Molique’s contemporaries and fellow musicians may have regarded him as ‘boring company’ or ‘a square’, but he nevertheless was one of the greatest violinists of his times. Tours throughout the Continent made him a renowned European personality. His string quartets form the focus of his oeuvre and surprisingly, contrary to what one might initially think, prove to be masterpieces situated between Classicism and Romanticism. It is always rewarding to take a closer look at the many composers obscured by Beethoven’s shadow and to give them a closer hearing. Now Molique’s complete string quartets, in interpretations by the Mannheim String Quartet, are available at a special low price in a box set.