Founded in 2014, the Rosetta Quartet originated from an idea by Salvo Marcuccio. In his search for high quality chamber music for guitars, he started experimenting with different tunings in order to enlarge the extension of the standard classical guitar. A nice compromise between range and playability eventually emerged in the form of a set of calibrated stringing that allows a whole full octave to be added to the gamut of a guitar quartet. With such tuning, it is possible to translate most of the original string quartet literature (from Haydn to Webern!) to the new medium, with essentially no alteration to the musical texture: in many cases, the extended guitar quartet just plays from the original scores, only transposed to a different key.
The radically different aural substance conveyed by the plucked strings – the magical tone colour of the classical guitars – sheds new light on so many familiar masterworks. This very original point of view on the great classics of the string quartet repertoire, including much of the best music ever written, reveals unsuspected details and opens up a whole new world of exciting discoveries for the adventurous musicians and the curious listeners.






