Although Arriaga is often called the "Spanish Mozart," his three string quartets, especially the second, bear a stronger resemblance to Beethoven's Op. 18 quartets, with their Classical attention to form and stylishness just barely beginning to feel some friction from a more Romantic impulsiveness. Arriaga's String Quartet No. 2, published in 1824 and probably written the previous year, seems a little behind the times compared to the late quartets of Beethoven and the series of mature quartets upon which Schubert was embarking. But Beethoven and Schubert weren't mainstream composers and Arriaga's great achievement, by age 17, was mastering the conventions of his period. The second quartet begins with an alert Allegro con brio that opens with a theatrical dialog between violin and cello against a fast, throbbing pulse. That pulse continues under the second theme, an elegant melody hinged on grace notes at critical points. Arriaga subjects these themes to a dramatic little development that is dwarfed by the surrounding exposition and recapitulation. The Andante offers variations on a theme closely related but not identical to the French nursery tune "Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman," which had already been famously used by Mozart and would later be taken up by Dohnányi. (In English, it's known as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.") Arriaga's variations are elegant, very short, and aim for maximum contrast. Most notable are a dreamy minor-mode treatment, followed by a sprightly pizzicato variation featuring chord textures that seem to preview the third movement of Tchaikovsky's much later Symphony No. 4. Arriaga labels the short third movement Menuetto, but offers Scherzo as an alternate designation. As in Beethoven's quartet scherzos (much lighter than those in his symphonies), this is light, witty, and not particularly danceable; the Trio section provides a brief pastoral episode. The final movement begins Andante ma non troppo, with a skipping, teasing little figure. Very soon this gives way to the main Allegro theme, happily ardent with a quick pulse, as in the first movement. Almost before it has been fully introduced, the Allegro theme suffers an extended interruption from the Andante material. The Allegro melody eventually returns, but veers off into material resembling the introductory theme. The movement seems to be heading in the direction of a rondo, but a theme-jumbling passage suggests the development section of a sonata movement. The movement proceeds to a spirited ending, but one free of the attention-getting virtuosity of, for example, the then-popular quartets of Spohr.

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