A SECRET Cornish benefactress paid for a group of talented musicians from Prague to launch their own CD.

The Herold String Quartet unveiled its creation yesterday at the Eden Project.

Funds to bring the quartet's talent to a wider audience came after it played at a private concert near St Ives last year.

The musicians had made the 1,000-mile journey packed into the back of a Skoda all the way from the Czech capital.

Music on the CD was created by young Czech composer Vaclav Zahradnik.

The recording is dedicated to the memory of Horace Tempest who died in 1979.

Mr Tempest of photographic company H Tempest Ltd, brought his firm to the county in 1958.

The quartet is made up of Petr Zdvihal, first violin; Jan Valta, second violin; Karel Untermuller, viola and David Havelik, cello.

Vaclav (known as Vasek) Zahradnik, was also at Eden yesterday.

The quartet is currently in the middle of a European tour but has taken a break to come to Cornwall to launch the CD.

Tim German, programme co-ordinator, said: "It is not often that Cornwall, hundreds of miles from the UK's main concert halls, can boast an international first in the world of classical music."

Eden Project and Truro Three Arts, a voluntary music society formed in 1945, joined forces to bring the unveiling of the CD to Cornwall.

The Herold Quartet came to Truro Three Arts' attention in 2005 when a member heard a recording and contacted violinist Jan Valta, and asked the group to come to Cornwall to perform.

The musicians agreed to come and planned to fit the date in with a UK tour in March 2007.

Unfortunately, complications set in with all the dates being cancelled apart from the one in Cornwall. The setback made the trip to the county too costly.

So to cut costs, the quartet piled into a Skoda complete with cello, viola and two violins and kept their Cornish musical date.

In turn, Truro Three Arts arranged an extra concert to raise funds to help out with travel expenses.

The official concert was a huge sell-out success and the next night the quartet performed the extra concert in front of an invited audience at a private manor house near St Ives.

During the concert, the musicians performed music by Vaclav Zahradnik – the first time his music had been heard outside the Czech Republic.

The hostess was so impressed that she offered to fund a recording of three string quartets by Zahradnik.

Jan Valta said: "The work was premiered in a small church at Srni, a village within the Sumava forests. It was in summer, fantastic weather and we did an afternoon performance.

"We let the church door open widely to the calm street and many people passing by when returning from hiking stopped to listen for a while and finally they stood until the end. It was a unique moment."