Jesús Guridi was one of a number of composers born in the last quarter of the 19th century, who also included Joaquín Turina and Manuel de Falla, driven by a desire to create and promote Spanish music with a genuinely national identity. With their authentic folk-tinged atmosphere, Guridi’s two string quartets follow his foremost philosophical concern of creating beautiful works of art, with their moments of modal serenity and richly diverse sophistication. Guridi’s masterpiece Ten Basque Melodies can be heard on Naxos 8557110, his zarzuela El caserío on 8557632, the Sinfonía pirenaica on 8557631, and his opera Amaya on Marco Polo 8225084-85.