Gaetano Donizetti not only knew the Viennese models that dominated the international market at the time very well but was also familiar with the most important exponents of Italian string quartet culture from his years as a student in Bologna at the latest. His string quartets therefore provide valuable insights into his training and early artistic development on the one hand and are important documents of a chamber music culture specific to Bergamo on the other. They combine conventional and innovative elements to create an astonishing mixture. A variety of musical characters can be heard, and the quartets are often unconventional in form and tone. Donizetti thus composes "on the pulse of time".