Spohr was first drawn to the idea of the double quartet by Romberg, but it was a form he made particularly his own. As a great violinist, he was also often expected to shine as soloist in an ensemble rather than act as primus inter pares, and he had in recent years interested himself in antiphonal textures with some of his choral music. These facts colour the present two works, in which the Paris quatuor concertant tradition of having a brilliant leader supported by the other players is, as it were, doubled up. Later, Spohr was to make the two quartets genuinely equal partners, though he never went so far as Milhaud, whom I remember once at the Royal College of Music introducing two of his quartets which were then played simultaneously as an octet. Here, it is the leader of the first quartet who shines, and Kenneth Sillito rises to the occasion. The D minor work is very consciously 'brilliant', though it includes a charming little Larghetto before plunging into a finale that Mendelssohn would have enjoyed if he knew it.
The Second Double Quartet has Spohr realizing more completely the possibilities of an equally balanced pair of string quartets, and as in the previous work there is a sensible stereo definition to help this without making too much of a meal of it. Textures are clear, the spread even, the depth of sound as well as the width impressive. This is not music to test the listener in any way: it is really close to the spirit of the serenade or divertimento.'