The first string quartet conceived by Mercadante during his years of study in the conservatory in Naples - and therefore traced back to about 1813 - testifies first of all the interest in quartet composition in the Neapolitan context as a genre of study and training and at the same time contributes to the enrichment of the Italian instrumental repertoire created by the few musicians active on the national soil (such as Rolla and Paganini, for example) not expatriates abroad looking for better luck such as, for example, Viotti, Boccherini, and Cherubini.
The composition, formed by the canonical three movements -Majestic, Largo, Rondò. Lively - fits into the form of the quatuor brillant with the concertmaster engaged more than the other instruments to emerge with singing and agility.
The peculiarity of the quartet consists mainly in its uniqueness as the specimen used for the edition was hitherto unknown, and only recently found within the precious collection of manuscripts preserved at the Conservatoire de la Vallée d'Aoste.
