# String quartet > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/String_quartet > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/String_quartet.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartet > Source revision: 1332779773 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Musical ensemble of four string players The [Fitzwilliam Quartet](/source/Fitzwilliam_Quartet) The term **string quartet** is a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play the quartets. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two [violinists](/source/Violin), a [violist](/source/Viola), and a [cellist](/source/Cello). The string quartet was developed into its present form by the Austrian composer [Joseph Haydn](/source/Joseph_Haydn), whose works in the 1750s established the ensemble as a group of four more-or-less equal partners. Since that time, the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form; writing for four instruments with broadly similar characteristics both constrains and tests a composer. String quartet composition flourished in the [Classical era](/source/Classical_music_era), and [Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart), [Beethoven](/source/Ludwig_van_Beethoven) and [Schubert](/source/Franz_Schubert) each wrote a number of them. Many [Romantic](/source/Romantic_era_music) and [early-twentieth-century](/source/20th-century_classical_music) composers composed string quartets, including [Mendelssohn](/source/Felix_Mendelssohn), [Schumann](/source/Robert_Schumann), [Brahms](/source/Johannes_Brahms), [Dvořák](/source/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k), [Janáček](/source/Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek), and [Debussy](/source/Claude_Debussy). There was a slight lull in string quartet composition later in the 19th century, but it received a resurgence in the 20th century, with the [Second Viennese School](/source/Second_Viennese_School), [Bartók](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k), [Shostakovich](/source/Dmitri_Shostakovich), [Babbitt](/source/Milton_Babbitt), and [Carter](/source/Elliott_Carter) producing highly regarded examples of the genre, and it remains an important and refined musical form. The standard structure for a string quartet as established in the Classical era is four [movements](/source/Movement_(music)), with the first movement in [sonata form](/source/Sonata_form), allegro, in the [tonic](/source/Tonic_(music)) key; a slow movement in a [related key](/source/Closely_related_key) and a [minuet and trio](/source/Minuet_and_trio) follow; and the fourth movement is often in [rondo form](/source/Rondo_form) or [sonata rondo form](/source/Sonata_rondo_form), in the tonic key. Some string quartet ensembles play together for many years and become established and promoted as an entity in a manner similar to an instrumental soloist or an [orchestra](/source/Orchestra). ## History and development ### Early history A string quartet in performance. From left to right: violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello The early history of the string quartet is in many ways the history of the development of the genre by the Austrian composer [Joseph Haydn](/source/Joseph_Haydn). There had been examples of [divertimenti](/source/Divertimento) for two solo violins, viola and cello by the Viennese composers [Georg Christoph Wagenseil](/source/Georg_Christoph_Wagenseil) and [Ignaz Holzbauer](/source/Ignaz_Holzbauer); and there had long been a tradition of performing orchestral works one instrument to a part. The British [musicologist](/source/Musicologist) [David Wyn Jones](/source/David_Wyn_Jones) cites the widespread practice of four players, one to a part, playing works written for [string orchestra](/source/String_orchestra), such as divertimenti and [serenades](/source/Serenade), there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century.[1] However, these composers showed no interest in exploring the development of the string quartet as a medium.[2] The origins of the string quartet can be further traced back to the [Baroque](/source/Baroque_music) [trio sonata](/source/Trio_sonata), in which two [solo](/source/Solo_(music)) instruments performed with a [continuo](/source/Basso_continuo) section consisting of a [bass instrument](/source/Bass_instrument) (such as the cello) and [keyboard](/source/Keyboard_instrument). A very early example is a four-part sonata for string ensemble by the Italian composer [Gregorio Allegri](/source/Gregorio_Allegri) that might be considered an important prototype.[3] By the early 18th century, composers were often adding a third soloist; and moreover it became common to omit the keyboard part, letting the cello support the bass line alone. Thus when [Alessandro Scarlatti](/source/Alessandro_Scarlatti) wrote a set of six works entitled *Sonata à Quattro per due Violini, Violetta [viola], e Violoncello senza Cembalo* (Sonata for four instruments: two violins, viola, and cello without harpsichord), this was a natural evolution from the existing tradition.[4] ### Haydn's impact The musicologist [Hartmut Schick](/source/Hartmut_Schick) has suggested that [Franz Xaver Richter](/source/Franz_Xaver_Richter) invented the "classical" string quartet around 1757,[5] but the consensus amongst most authorities is that Haydn is responsible for the genre in its currently accepted form. The string quartet enjoyed no recognized status as an ensemble in the way that two violins with basso continuo – the so-called '[trio sonata](/source/Trio_sonata)' – had for more than a hundred years. Even the composition of Haydn's earliest string quartets owed more to chance than artistic imperative.[6] During the 1750s, when the young composer was still working mainly as a teacher and violinist in Vienna, he would occasionally be invited to spend time at the nearby [castle at Weinzierl](/source/Weinzierl_Castle) of the music-loving Austrian nobleman Karl Joseph Weber, Edler von Fürnberg. There he would play chamber music in an *ad hoc* ensemble consisting of Fürnberg's steward, a priest, and a local cellist, and when the Baron asked for some new music for the group to play, Haydn's first string quartets were born. It is not clear whether any of these works ended up in the two sets published in the mid-1760s and known as Haydn's [Opp.](/source/Opus_number) 1 and 2 ('Op. 0' is a quartet included in some early editions of Op. 1, and only rediscovered in the 1930s), but it seems reasonable to assume that they were at least similar in character. Haydn's early biographer [Georg August Griesinger](/source/Georg_August_Griesinger) tells the story thus: The following purely chance circumstance had led him to try his luck at the composition of quartets. A Baron Fürnberg had a place in [Weinzierl](/source/Weinzierl_Castle), several stages from Vienna, and he invited from time to time his pastor, his manager, Haydn, and Albrechtsberger (a brother of the celebrated [contrapuntist](/source/Contrapuntist) [Albrechtsberger](/source/Johann_Georg_Albrechtsberger)) in order to have a little music. Fürnberg requested Haydn to compose something that could be performed by these four amateurs. Haydn, then eighteen years old [*[sic](/source/Sic)*],[7] took up this proposal, and so originated his first quartet which, immediately it appeared, received such general approval that Haydn took courage to work further in this form.[8] Haydn went on to write nine other quartets around this time. These works were published as his Op. 1 and Op. 2; one quartet went unpublished, and some of the early "quartets" are actually symphonies missing their wind parts. They have five movements and take the form: fast movement, [minuet and trio](/source/Minuet_and_trio) I, slow movement, minuet and trio II, and fast [finale](/source/Finale_(music)). As [Ludwig Finscher](/source/Ludwig_Finscher) notes, they draw stylistically on the Austrian [divertimento](/source/Divertimento) tradition.[6] After these early efforts, Haydn did not return to the string quartet for several years, but when he did so, it was to make a significant step in the genre's development. The intervening years saw Haydn begin his employment as [Kapellmeister](/source/Kapellmeister) to the [Esterházy](/source/Esterh%C3%A1zy) princes, for whom he was required to compose numerous symphonies and dozens of trios for violin, viola, and the bass instrument called the [baryton](/source/Baryton) (played by Prince [Nikolaus Esterházy](/source/Nikolaus_Esterhazy) himself). The opportunities for experiment which both these genres offered Haydn perhaps helped him in the pursuit of the more advanced quartet style found in the eighteen works published in the early 1770s as Opp. 9, 17, and [20](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._20_(Haydn)). These are written in a form that became established as standard both for Haydn and for other composers. Clearly composed as sets, these quartets feature a four-movement layout having broadly conceived, moderately paced first movements and, in increasing measure, a democratic and conversational interplay of parts, close-knit thematic development, and skillful though often restrained use of counterpoint. The convincing realizations of the progressive aims of the Op. 20 set of 1772, in particular, makes them the first major peak in the history of the string quartet.[9] Certainly they offered to their own time state-of-the art models to follow for the best part of a decade; the teenage [Mozart](/source/Mozart), in his early quartets, was among the composers moved to imitate many of their characteristics, right down to the vital [fugues](/source/Fugue) with which Haydn sought to bring greater architectural weight to the finales of nos. 2, 5 and 6. After Op. 20, it becomes harder to point to similar major jumps in the string quartet's development in Haydn's hands, though not due to any lack of invention or application on the composer's part. As [Donald Tovey](/source/Donald_Tovey) put it: "with Op. 20 the historical development of Haydn's quartets reaches its goal; and further progress is not progress in any historical sense, but simply the difference between one masterpiece and the next."[10] Haydn's Quartet No. 53 in D major ("The Lark"), Op. 64, No. 5 [I. Allegro moderato (6:12)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_StringQuartetInDMajorOp.64_JosephHaydn-StringQuartetInDOp.645H363Lark-01-AllegroModerato.ogg) [II. Adagio, cantabile (4:52)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_StringQuartetInDMajorOp.64_JosephHaydn-StringQuartetInDOp.645H363Lark-02-AdagioCantabile.ogg) [III. Menuetto allegretto (3:47)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_StringQuartetInDMajorOp.64_JosephHaydn-StringQuartetInDOp.645H363Lark-03-MenuettoAllegretto.ogg) [IV. Finale vivace (1:31)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haydn_StringQuartetInDMajorOp.64_JosephHaydn-StringQuartetInDOp.645H363Lark-04-FinaleVivace.ogg) The musicologist Roger Hickman has however dissented from this consensus view. He notes a change in string quartet writing towards the end of the 1760s, featuring characteristics which are today thought of as essential to the genre – scoring for two violins, viola and cello, solo passages, and absence of actual or potential [basso continuo](/source/Basso_continuo) accompaniment. Noting that at this time other composers than Haydn were writing works conforming to these 'modern' criteria, and that Haydn's earlier quartets did not meet them, he suggests that "one casualty [of such a perspective] is the notion that Haydn "invented" the string quartet... Although he may still be considered the 'father' of the 'Classical' string quartet, he is not the creator of the sting quartet genre itself... This old and otiose myth not only misrepresents the achievements of other excellent composers, but also distorts the character and qualities of Haydn's opp. 1, 2 and 9".[11] The musicologist [Cliff Eisen](/source/Cliff_Eisen) contextualizes the Op. 20 quartets as follows: "Haydn's quartets of the late 1760s and early 1770s [opp. 9, 17, and 20] are high points in the early history of the quartet. Characterized by a wide range of textures, frequent asymmetries and theatrical gestures...these quartets established the genre's four-movement form, its larger dimensions, and ...its greater aesthetic pretensions and expressive range."[12] That Haydn's string quartets were already "classics" that defined the genre by 1801 can be judged by [Ignaz Pleyel](/source/Ignaz_Pleyel)'s publication in Paris of a "complete" series that year, and the quartet's evolution as vehicle for public performance can be judged by Pleyel's ten-volume set of [miniature scores](/source/Miniature_score) intended for hearers rather than players – early examples of this genre of [music publishing](/source/Music_publisher_(popular_music)). Since Haydn's day, the string quartet has been prestigious and considered one of the true tests of a composer's art. This may be partly because the palette of sound is more restricted than with [orchestral](/source/Orchestra) music, forcing the music to stand more on its own rather than relying on [tonal color](/source/Timbre); or from the inherently [contrapuntal](/source/Counterpoint) tendency in music written for four equal instruments. ### After Haydn Quartet composition flourished in the [Classical](/source/Classical_music_era) era. [Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart), [Beethoven](/source/Ludwig_van_Beethoven) and [Schubert](/source/Franz_Schubert) each composed a number of quartets: "Beethoven in particular is credited with developing the genre in an experimental and dynamic fashion, especially in his later series of quartets written in the 1820s up until his death. Their forms and ideas inspired and continue to inspire musicians and composers, such as [Wagner](/source/Richard_Wagner) and [Bartók](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k)."[13] Schubert's last musical wish was to hear Beethoven's [Quartet in C♯ minor, Op. 131](/source/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)), which he heard on 14 November 1828, just five days before his death. Upon listening to an earlier performance of this quartet, Schubert had remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?" Wagner, when reflecting on Op. 131's first movement, said that it "reveals the most melancholy sentiment expressed in music". Of the [late quartets](/source/Late_string_quartets_(Beethoven)), Beethoven cited his own favorite as [Op. 131](/source/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)), which he saw as his most perfect single work. [Mendelssohn](/source/Felix_Mendelssohn)'s [six string quartets](/source/String_Quartets_(Mendelssohn)) span the full range of his career, from 1828 to 1847; [Schumann](/source/Robert_Schumann)'s [three string quartets](/source/String_Quartets_(Schumann)) were all written in 1842 and dedicated to Mendelssohn, whose quartets Schumann had been studying in preparation, along with those of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Several Romantic-era composers wrote only one quartet, while [Dvořák](/source/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k#String_quartets) wrote 14. ### In the 20th century String quartet [score](/source/Musical_notation) ([quartal harmony](/source/Quartal_and_quintal_harmony) from Schoenberg's [String Quartet No. 1](/source/String_Quartets_(Schoenberg)#String_Quartet_No._1,_op._7)) In the modern era, the string quartet played a key role in the development of [Schoenberg](/source/Arnold_Schoenberg) (who added a [soprano](/source/Soprano) in his [String Quartet No. 2](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Schoenberg))), [Bartók](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k), and [Shostakovich](/source/Dmitri_Shostakovich) especially. After the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), some composers, such as [Messiaen](/source/Olivier_Messiaen) questioned the relevance of the string quartet and avoided writing them.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] However, from the 1960s onwards, many composers have shown a renewed interest in the genre. During his tenure as [Master of the Queen's Music](/source/Master_of_the_Queen's_Music), [Peter Maxwell Davies](/source/Peter_Maxwell_Davies) produced a set of ten entitled the [Naxos Quartets](/source/Naxos_Quartets) (to a commission from [Naxos Records](/source/Naxos_Records)) from 2001 to 2007. [Margaret Jones Wiles](/source/Margaret_Jones_Wiles) composed over 50 string quartets. [David Matthews](/source/David_Matthews_(composer)) has written eleven, and [Robin Holloway](/source/Robin_Holloway) both five quartets and six "quartettini". Over nearly five decades, [Elliott Carter](/source/Elliott_Carter) wrote a total of five string quartets, winning [Pulitzer Prizes](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Music) for two of them, [No. 2](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Carter)) and [No. 3](/source/String_Quartet_No._3_(Carter)). Three important string quartets were written by [Helmut Lachenmann](/source/Helmut_Lachenmann). The late 20th century also saw the string quartet expand in various ways: [Morton Feldman](/source/Morton_Feldman)'s vast [Second String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Feldman)) is one of the longest ever written, and [Karlheinz Stockhausen](/source/Karlheinz_Stockhausen)'s [Helikopter-Streichquartett](/source/Helikopter-Streichquartett) is to be performed by the four musicians in four helicopters. ## String quartets of the classical period This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Quartets written during the [classical period](/source/Classical_period_(music)) usually had four movements, with a structure similar to that of a [symphony](/source/Symphony): 1. A fast movement in [sonata form](/source/Sonata_form) in the [tonic](/source/Tonic_(music)) key 1. A [slow movement](/source/Slow_movement_(music)), in a related key 1. A [minuet](/source/Minuet) and [trio](/source/Trio_(musical_form)) or (in later works) [scherzo](/source/Scherzo) and trio, in the tonic key 1. A fast movement, sometimes in [rondo](/source/Rondo) or movement in [sonata rondo form](/source/Sonata_rondo_form), in the tonic key The positions of the slow movement and third movement are flexible. For example, in Mozart's six [quartets dedicated to Haydn](/source/Haydn_Quartets_(Mozart)), three have a minuet followed by a slow movement and three have the slow movement before the minuet. Substantial modifications to the typical structure were already present by the time of Beethoven's late quartets, and despite some notable examples to the contrary, composers writing in the twentieth century increasingly abandoned this structure. Bartók's [fourth](/source/String_Quartet_No._4_(Bart%C3%B3k)) and [fifth](/source/String_Quartet_No._5_(Bart%C3%B3k)) string quartets, written in the 1930s, are five-movement works, symmetrical around a central movement.[14] Shostakovich's [final quartet](/source/String_Quartet_No._15_(Shostakovich)), written in the 1970s, comprises six slow movements. ## Variations of string quartet End of [Arensky](/source/Anton_Arensky)'s [String Quartet No. 2](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Arensky)) for violin, viola and two cellos, played at the [Casals Forum](/source/Casals_Forum) in 2023 This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Many other chamber groups can be seen as modifications of the string quartet: - The [string quintet](/source/String_quintet) is a string quartet augmented by a fifth string instrument. [Mozart](/source/Mozart) employed two violas in his string quintets, while Schubert's [string quintet](/source/String_Quintet_(Schubert)) utilized two cellos. [Boccherini](/source/Luigi_Boccherini) wrote a few quintets with a [double bass](/source/Double_bass) as the fifth instrument. Most of Boccherini's string quintets are for two violins, viola, and two cellos. Another composer who wrote a string quintet with two cellos is [Ethel Smyth](/source/Ethel_Smyth). - The [string trio](/source/String_trio) has one violin, a viola, and a cello. - The [piano trio](/source/Piano_trio) has a piano, a violin, and a cello. - The [piano quintet](/source/Piano_quintet) is a string quartet with an added [piano](/source/Piano). - The [piano quartet](/source/Piano_quartet) is a string quartet with one of the violins replaced by a piano. - The [clarinet quintet](/source/Clarinet_quintet) is a string quartet with an added [clarinet](/source/Clarinet), such as those by [Mozart](/source/Clarinet_Quintet_(Mozart)) and [Brahms](/source/Clarinet_Quintet_(Brahms)). - The [string sextet](/source/String_sextet) contains two each of violins, violas, and cellos. Brahms, for example, wrote two string sextets. Further expansions have also produced works such as the [String octet](/source/Octet_(Mendelssohn)) by [Mendelssohn](/source/Mendelssohn), consisting of the equivalent of two string quartets. Notably, [Schoenberg](/source/Arnold_Schoenberg) included a [soprano](/source/Soprano) in the last two movements of his [second string quartet](/source/String_Quartets_(Schoenberg)#String_Quartet_No._2,_op._10), composed in 1908. Adding a voice has since been done by [Milhaud](/source/Milhaud), [Ginastera](/source/Ginastera), [Ferneyhough](/source/Brian_Ferneyhough), [Davies](/source/Peter_Maxwell_Davies), [İlhan Mimaroğlu](/source/%C4%B0lhan_Mimaro%C4%9Flu) and many others. Another variation on the traditional string quartet is the electric string quartet with players performing on [electric instruments](/source/Electric_violin). ## Notable string quartets See also: [List of string quartet composers](/source/List_of_string_quartet_composers) Pacifica Quartet performs at the [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress) [Antonio Stradivari](/source/Antonio_Stradivari) Anniversary concert on December 18, 2024 Notable works for string quartet include: [Beethoven's *Grosse Fuge*, Op. 133](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merel_Quartet_Beethoven_Grosse_Fuge_op.133.ogg) Merel Quartet at [Tonhalle Zürich](/source/Tonhalle_Z%C3%BCrich), 3 July 2013: Mary Ellen Woodside and Julia Schröder, violin; Ylvali Zilliacus, viola; Rafael Rosenfeld, cello - [Joseph Haydn](/source/Joseph_Haydn)'s [68 string quartets](/source/List_of_string_quartets_by_Joseph_Haydn), in particular [Op. 20](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._20_(Haydn)), [Op. 33](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._33_(Haydn)), [Op. 76](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._76_(Haydn)), [Op. 64](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._64_(Haydn)), No. 5 ("The Lark") and the string quartet version of "The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross" ([Op. 51](/source/The_Seven_Last_Words_of_Christ_(Haydn)))[15] - [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart)'s 23 string quartets, in particular the [set of six dedicated to Haydn](/source/Haydn_Quartets_(Mozart)), including [K. 465](/source/String_Quartet_No._19_(Mozart)) ("Dissonance")[15] - [Ludwig van Beethoven](/source/Ludwig_van_Beethoven)'s 16 string quartets, in particular the five "middle" quartets [Op. 59 nos 1–3](/source/String_Quartets_Nos._7%E2%80%939%2C_Op._59_%E2%80%93_Rasumovsky_(Beethoven)) (*“Rasumovsky”*), [Op. 74](/source/String_Quartet_No._10_(Beethoven)) and [Op. 95](/source/String_Quartet_No._11_(Beethoven)); as well as the [five late quartets](/source/Late_String_Quartets_(Beethoven)),[16] Opp. [127](/source/String_Quartet_No._12_(Beethoven)), [130](/source/String_Quartet_No._13_(Beethoven)), [131](/source/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)), [132](/source/String_Quartet_No._15_(Beethoven)), and [135](/source/String_Quartet_No._16_(Beethoven)), plus the *[Grosse Fuge](/source/Grosse_Fuge),* Op. 133, the original final movement of Op. 130. - [Franz Schubert](/source/Franz_Schubert)'s 15 string quartets, in particular the [String Quartet No. 12](/source/String_Quartet_No._12_(Schubert)) in C minor ("Quartettsatz"), [String Quartet No. 13](/source/String_Quartet_No._13_(Schubert)) in A minor ("Rosamunde"), [String Quartet No. 14](/source/String_Quartet_No._14_(Schubert)) in D minor ("Death and the Maiden"), and [String Quartet No. 15](/source/String_Quartet_No._15_(Schubert)) in G major[17] - [Felix Mendelssohn](/source/Felix_Mendelssohn)'s [6 numbered string quartets](/source/String_Quartets_(Mendelssohn)), in particular the [String Quartet No. 2](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)) (early example of [cyclic form](/source/Cyclic_form)), and the early [unnumbered string quartet in E♭ major](/source/String_Quartet_in_E-flat_major_(1823)_(Mendelssohn))[18] - [Robert Schumann](/source/Robert_Schumann)'s three [string quartets, Op. 41](/source/String_Quartets_(Schumann)), in A minor, F major and A major (1842)[19] - [Johannes Brahms](/source/Johannes_Brahms)'s three string quartets, [Op. 51 No. 1 (in C minor), Op. 51 No. 2 (in A minor)](/source/String_Quartets%2C_Op._51_(Brahms)) and [Op. 67 (in B♭ major)](/source/String_Quartet_No._3_(Brahms))[20] - [Giuseppe Verdi](/source/Giuseppe_Verdi)'s [String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_(Verdi)) in E minor (1873) - [Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky](/source/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky)'s three string quartets (1871, 1873/74, 1876)[21] - [Anton Arensky](/source/Anton_Arensky)'s [Second String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Arensky)) in A minor, unusually scored for violin, viola and two cellos (1894) - [Antonín Dvořák](/source/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)'s String Quartets Nos. 9–14, particularly [String Quartet No. 12 in F major, "American"](/source/String_Quartet_No._12_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k));[15] also No. 3 is an exceptionally long quartet (lasting 65 minutes)[22] - [Bedřich Smetana](/source/Bed%C5%99ich_Smetana)'s two quartets, especially [String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, "From my Life"](/source/String_Quartet_No._1_(Smetana)) (1876), considered the first piece of chamber [programme music](/source/Programme_music)[21] - [César Franck](/source/C%C3%A9sar_Franck)'s [String Quartet in D major](/source/String_Quartet_(Franck)) (1889–1890)[21] - [Claude Debussy](/source/Claude_Debussy)'s [String Quartet in G minor](/source/String_Quartet_(Debussy)), Op. 10 (1893) - [Maurice Ravel](/source/Maurice_Ravel)'s [String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_(Ravel)), in F major (1903)[23] - [Max Reger](/source/Max_Reger)'s six string quartets (including an early unnumbered one), especially long Quartet No. 3 in D minor, Op. 74 (1903-04), Quartet No. 4 in E♭ major, Op. 109 (1909), and the last, Quartet No. 5 in F♯ minor, Op. 121 (1911)[21] - [Jean Sibelius](/source/Jean_Sibelius)'s String Quartet in D minor, Op. 56, *[Voces intimae](/source/Voces_intimae_(Sibelius))* (1909)[24] - [Alexander Zemlinsky](/source/Alexander_von_Zemlinsky)'s Second String Quartet, Op. 15 (1913–15)[25] - [Edward Elgar](/source/Edward_Elgar)’s [String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_(Elgar)) op. 83 in E minor (1918) - [Gabriel Fauré](/source/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9)’s [String Quartet](/source/String_Quartet_(Faur%C3%A9)) op. 121 in E minor (1924), the composer’s last work - [Leoš Janáček](/source/Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek)'s two string quartets, [String Quartet No. 1, "Kreutzer Sonata"](/source/String_Quartet_No._1_(Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek)) (1923), inspired by [Leo Tolstoy](/source/Leo_Tolstoy)'s novel *[The Kreutzer Sonata](/source/The_Kreutzer_Sonata)*, itself named after Beethoven's [*Kreutzer* Sonata](/source/Violin_Sonata_No._9_(Beethoven)); and his second string quartet, *[Intimate Letters](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek))* (1928)[26] - [Béla Bartók](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k)'s [six string quartets](/source/List_of_string_quartets_by_B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k) (1909, 1915–17, 1926, 1927, 1934, 1939)[26] - [Arnold Schoenberg](/source/Arnold_Schoenberg)'s [four string quartets](/source/String_Quartets_(Schoenberg)) – No. 1 Op. 7 (1904–05) No. 2 Op. 10 (1907–08, noteworthy for its first ever inclusion of the human voice in a string quartet), No. 3 Op. 30 (1927) and No. 4 Op. 37 (1936)[24] - [Alban Berg](/source/Alban_Berg)'s [String Quartet, Op. 3](/source/String_Quartet%2C_Op._3_(Berg)) (1910) and *[Lyric Suite](/source/Lyric_Suite_(Berg))* (1925–26), later adapted for string orchestra[26] - [Anton Webern](/source/Anton_Webern)'s Five Movements, Op.5 (1909),[21] Six Bagatelles, Op.9 (1913),[21] and [Quartet, Op. 28](/source/String_Quartet_(Webern)) (1937–38)[24] - [Darius Milhaud](/source/Darius_Milhaud)'s set of 18 string quartets written between 1912 and 1950, particularly nos. 14 and 15 op. 291 (1948–49), which can be played simultaneously as a string octet[27] - [Heitor Villa-Lobos](/source/Heitor_Villa-Lobos)'s 17 string quartets (1915–57), in particular the [Fifth](/source/String_Quartet_No._5_(Villa-Lobos)) ("Popular"), [Sixth](/source/String_Quartet_No._6_(Villa-Lobos)) ("Brazilian"), and [Seventeenth](/source/String_Quartet_No._17_(Villa-Lobos)) String Quartets.[27] - [Ruth Crawford-Seeger](/source/Ruth_Crawford-Seeger)'s string quartet (1931) - [Alois Hába](/source/Alois_H%C3%A1ba)'s 16 string quartets (1919–67),[27] some of them in quarter-tone tuning, the last in fifth-tone tuning - [Dmitri Shostakovich](/source/Dmitri_Shostakovich)'s 15 string quartets, in particular the [No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 (1960)](/source/String_Quartet_No._8_(Shostakovich)), and [No. 15](/source/String_Quartet_No._15_(Shostakovich)) Op. 144 (1974) in six [Adagio](/source/Tempo) movements[27] - [John Cage](/source/John_Cage)'s *[String Quartet in Four Parts](/source/String_Quartet_in_Four_Parts)*[27] (1950) - [Elliott Carter](/source/Elliott_Carter)'s five string quartets[27] (1951, 1959, 1971, 1986, 1995) - [Iannis Xenakis](/source/Iannis_Xenakis)'s *ST/4* (1962),[27] *Tetras* (1983), *Tetora* (1990) and *Ergma* (1994) - [Karlheinz Stockhausen](/source/Karlheinz_Stockhausen)'s *[Helikopter-Streichquartett](/source/Helikopter-Streichquartett)* (1992–93), to be played by the four musicians in four helicopters[28][29] - [Brian Ferneyhough](/source/Brian_Ferneyhough)'s six string quartets (1963, 1980, 1987, 1989–90, 2006, 2010) as well as his *Sonatas for String Quartet* (1967), *Adagissimo* (1983), *Dum transisset I–IV* (2007), *Exordium* (2008) and *Silentium* (2014) - [Salvatore Sciarrino](/source/Salvatore_Sciarrino)'s eight string quartets (1967–2008) - [Wolfgang Rihm](/source/Wolfgang_Rihm)'s 13 string quartets (1970–2011) - [Helmut Lachenmann](/source/Helmut_Lachenmann)'s three string quartets (*Gran Torso*, 1972; *[Reigen seliger Geister](/source/Reigen_seliger_Geister)*, 1989; *Grido*, 2001) - [Morton Feldman](/source/Morton_Feldman)'s [String Quartet No. 2](/source/String_Quartet_No._2_(Feldman)) (1983), which typically takes about five hours in performance - [Georges Lentz](/source/Georges_Lentz)'s 43-hour digital *[String Quartet(s)](/source/String_Quartet(s))* (2000–2023), a vast four-channel multi-disciplinary work permanently played in the [Cobar Sound Chapel](/source/Cobar_Sound_Chapel)[30] ## String quartets (ensembles) Main article: [List of string quartet ensembles](/source/List_of_string_quartet_ensembles) Whereas individual string players often group together to make [ad hoc](/source/Ad_hoc) string quartets, others continue to play together for many years in ensembles which may be named after the first violinist (e.g. the [Takács Quartet](/source/Tak%C3%A1cs_Quartet)), a composer (e.g. the [Borodin Quartet](/source/Borodin_Quartet)) or a location (e.g. the [Budapest Quartet](/source/Budapest_String_Quartet)). Established quartets may undergo changes in membership whilst retaining their original name. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWyn_Jones2003179_1-0)** [Wyn Jones 2003](#CITEREFWyn_Jones2003), 179. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [D'Indy](/source/D'Indy)'s [*Cours de Composition Musicale*](https://imslp.org/wiki/Cours_de_Composition_Musicale_(Indy,_Vincent_d%27)#IMSLP880379) (1912) cites the "timides essais" of [Sammartini](/source/Sammartini), [Van Malder](/source/Pieter_van_Maldere) & [Gossec](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph_Gossec). (p. 214) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Arthur Eaglefield Hull](/source/Arthur_Eaglefield_Hull), "The earliest string quartet" *[The Musical Quarterly](/source/The_Musical_Quarterly)* **15** (1929:72–76). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWyn_Jones2003178_4-0)** [Wyn Jones 2003](#CITEREFWyn_Jones2003), 178. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Schick, Hartmut](/source/Hartmut_Schick) (2009). ["Hat Franz Xaver Richter das Streichquartett erfunden? Überlegungen zum 300. Geburtstag des Komponisten, samt einer Hypothese zu Boccherini"](http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-epub-17252-0) [Did Franz Xaver Richter invent the string quartet? Reflections on the 300th birthday of the composer, including a theory about Boccherini]. *[Archiv für Musikwissenschaft](/source/Archiv_f%C3%BCr_Musikwissenschaft)* (in German). **66** (4): 306–320. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.25162/afmw-2009-0016](https://doi.org/10.25162%2Fafmw-2009-0016). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [27764460](https://www.jstor.org/stable/27764460). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFinscher2000398_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFinscher2000398_6-1) [Finscher 2000](#CITEREFFinscher2000), 398. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** This would put the date earlier, around 1750; [Finscher (2000)](#CITEREFFinscher2000) as well as [Webster & Feder (2001)](#CITEREFWebsterFeder2001) judge that Griesinger erred here. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriesinger196313_8-0)** [Griesinger 1963](#CITEREFGriesinger1963), 13. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Lindsay Kemp: Joseph Haydn: The String Quartets, Decca 200. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETovey[[Category:Wikipedia_articles_needing_page_number_citations_from_January_2017]][[[Wikipedia:Citing_sources|page needed]]]_10-0)** [Tovey](#CITEREFTovey), [*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*]. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Hickman, Roger (1981). "The Nascent Viennese String Quartet". *[The Musical Quarterly](/source/The_Musical_Quarterly)*. **67** (2): 211–212. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [741992](https://www.jstor.org/stable/741992). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** [Eisen, Cliff](/source/Cliff_Eisen) (2009). "The string quartet". In [Keefe, Simon](/source/Simon_P._Keefe) (ed.). [*The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music*](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-history-of-eighteenth-century-music/89CD5DBB0501F1A52B516F320F8A7129). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 650. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781139056038](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781139056038). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Morris, Edmund (2005). *The Universal Composer*. New York: Atlas Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-06-075974-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-06-075974-7).[*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Németh, Zsombor (2022). ["The Fourth of the Fourth: On the Genesis and the Early Performances of the Allegretto, pizzicato Movement of Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 4"](https://doi.org/10.1556%2F6.2021.00019). *Studia Musicologica*. **62** (3–4): 291–307. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1556/6.2021.00019](https://doi.org/10.1556%2F6.2021.00019). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Saphire_Fam_Qt_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Saphire_Fam_Qt_15-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Saphire_Fam_Qt_15-2) "[Famous String quartets](http://www.sapphirequartet.co.uk/famous-string-quartets.html)", *SapphireQuartet.co.uk*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120418095201/http://www.sapphirequartet.co.uk/famous-string-quartets.html) 2012-04-18 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Morris, Edmund](/source/Edmund_Morris_(writer)), *Beethoven: The Universal Composer.* New York: Atlas Books / HarperCollins, 2005. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-06-075974-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-06-075974-7) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEisen2001§3_17-0)** [Eisen 2001](#CITEREFEisen2001), §3. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** For a complete analysis of this quartet, see [Griffiths 1983](#CITEREFGriffiths1983), [*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWyn_Jones2003239ff_19-0)** [Wyn Jones 2003](#CITEREFWyn_Jones2003), pp. 239ff. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBaldassarre2001_20-0)** [Baldassarre 2001](#CITEREFBaldassarre2001). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§5_21-5) [Griffiths 2001](#CITEREFGriffiths2001), §5. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["DVORAK, A.: String Quartets, Vol. 8 (Vlach Quartet) – No. 3 – 8.553378"](https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.553378). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180720135831/https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.553378) from the original on 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2018-07-20. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEScholes1938[[Category:Wikipedia_articles_needing_page_number_citations_from_December_2022]][[[Wikipedia:Citing_sources|page needed]]]_23-0)** [Scholes 1938](#CITEREFScholes1938), p. [*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*]. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§6_24-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§6_24-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§6_24-2) [Griffiths 2001](#CITEREFGriffiths2001), §6. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBeaumont2001_25-0)** [Beaumont 2001](#CITEREFBeaumont2001). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§7_26-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§7_26-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§7_26-2) [Griffiths 2001](#CITEREFGriffiths2001), §7. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§8_27-6) [Griffiths 2001](#CITEREFGriffiths2001), §8. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Karlheinz Stockhausen,.. "Helikopter-Streichquartett", *Grand Street* 14, no. 4 (Spring 1996, "Grand Street 56: Dreams"): 213–225. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-885490-07-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-885490-07-0). Online variant version [1999], as "[Introduction: Helicopter String Quartet (1992/93)](https://web.archive.org/web/20141117125904/http://www.stockhausen.org/helicopter_intro.html)" (some omissions, some supplements, different illustrations; archive from 17 November 2014, accessed 11 August 2016). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGriffiths2001§9_29-0)** [Griffiths 2001](#CITEREFGriffiths2001), §9. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** ["THE MUSIC"](https://www.cobarsoundchapel.com/the-music.html). *Cobar Sound Chapel*. Retrieved November 7, 2024. ### Sources - Baldassarre, Antonio : "String Quartet: §4", in: *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, edited by [Stanley Sadie](/source/Stanley_Sadie) and [John Tyrrell](/source/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)) (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). - Beaumont, Antony. 2001. "Zemlinsky [Zemlinszky], Alexander (von). *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers. - Eisen, Cliff: "String Quartet: §§1–3", in: *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, edited by [Stanley Sadie](/source/Stanley_Sadie) and [John Tyrrell](/source/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)) (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). - [Finscher, Ludwig](/source/Ludwig_Finscher): *Joseph Haydn und seine Zeit* (Laaber, Germany: Laaber, 2000). - [Griesinger, Georg August](/source/Georg_August_Griesinger): *Biographical Notes Concerning Joseph Haydn* (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, [1810] 1963). English translation by Vernon Gotwals, in *Haydn: Two Contemporary Portraits* (Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press).[*[verification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability)*] - [Griffiths, Paul](/source/Paul_Griffiths_(writer)) (1983). *The String Quartet: A History*. Thames and Hudson. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-500-27383-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-500-27383-9). - Griffiths, Paul: "String Quartet: §§5–9", in: *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, edited by [Stanley Sadie](/source/Stanley_Sadie) and [John Tyrrell](/source/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)) (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001). - [Scholes, Percy A.](/source/Percy_Scholes) (1938). *[The Oxford Companion to Music](/source/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Music)*. Oxford University Press. - [Tovey, Donald](/source/Donald_Tovey): *Essays in Musical Analysis*. [*[full citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include)*] - [Webster, James](/source/James_Webster_(musicologist)) & Feder, Georg: "Joseph Haydn", article in: *[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians](/source/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians)* (London & New York: Macmillan, 2001). Published separately as a book: *The New Grove Haydn* (New York: Macmillan 2002, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-516904-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-516904-2)). - [Wyn Jones, David](/source/David_Wyn_Jones): "The Origins of the Quartet", in Robin Stowell (ed.): *[The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet](/source/Cambridge_Companions_to_Music)* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-521-00042-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-00042-4). ## Further reading - Barrett-Ayres, Reginald: *Joseph Haydn and the String Quartet* (New York: Schirmer Books, 1974); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-02-870400-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-02-870400-2). - Blum, David: *The Art of Quartet Playing: The Guarneri Quartet in Conversation with David Blum* (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-394-53985-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-394-53985-0). - Eisler, Edith: *21st-Century String Quartets* (String Letter Publishing, 2000); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-890490-15-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-890490-15-6). - [Keller, Hans](/source/Hans_Keller): *The Great Haydn Quartets. Their Interpretation* (London: J. M. Dent, 1986); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-460-86107-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-460-86107-7). - [Krummacher, Friedhelm](/source/Friedhelm_Krummacher) (2005). *Geschichte des Streichquartetts* [*History of the String Quartet*] (in German). Vol. 3 vols: Volume 1, Die Zeit der Wiener Klassik, volume 2, Romantik und Moderne, volume 3, Neue Musik und Avantgarde (2nd ed.). Laaber: [Laaber-Verlag](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laaber-Verlag&action=edit&redlink=1) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laaber-Verlag)]. - Rounds, David: *The Four & the One: In Praise of String Quartets* (Fort Bragg, California: Lost Coast Press, 1999); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-882897-26-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-882897-26-9). - [Rosen, Charles](/source/Charles_Rosen): *The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven* (London: Faber and Faber, 1971); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-571-10234-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-571-10234-4) (soft covers), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-571-09118-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-571-09118-0) (hardback). - [Steinhardt, Arnold](/source/Arnold_Steinhardt): *Indivisible by Four* (Farrar, Straus Giroux, 1998); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-374-52700-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-374-52700-8). - Vernon, David (5 September 2023). *Beethoven: The String Quartets*. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press, 2023. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1739659929](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1739659929). - Vuibert, Francis: *Répertoire universel du quatuor à cordes* (2009) [ProQuartet-CEMC](https://web.archive.org/web/20110718200859/http://www.gregsandow.com/quartint.htm); [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-2-9531544-0-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2-9531544-0-5). - Winter, Robert (ed.): *The Beethoven Quartet Companion* (University of California Press, 1996). ## External links - [Greg Sandow – Introducing String Quartets](https://web.archive.org/web/20110718200859/http://www.gregsandow.com/quartint.htm) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived July 18, 2011) - [A brief history of the development of the String Quartet up to Beethoven](http://www.raptusassociation.org/stringprehist_e.html) - [Beethoven's string quartets](https://web.archive.org/web/20050119222457/http://all-about-beethoven.com/stringquartet.html) - [Art of the States: string quartet](https://web.archive.org/web/20040103104013/http://www.artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/instsearch.pl?inst=string%20quartet) works for string quartet by American composers - [String Quartet Sound-bites from lesser known composers](http://www.editionsilvertrust.com) E.G. Onslow, Viotti, Rheinberger, Gretchaninov, A.Taneyev, Kiel, Busoni & many more. - [European archive](http://www.europarchive.org/results.php?query=strykkwartet&additional=&x=0&y=0) String quartet recordings on copyright free LPs at the European Archive (for non-American users only). - [Shostakovich: the string quartets](http://www.quartets.de/index.html) - [String quartet compositions and performers since about 1914 and the connections between them](http://www.quartetweb.org) [Portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents/Portals): - [Classical music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Classical_music) v t e String quartets African Soweto American Alexander Ancora Artaria Audubon Berkshire Blair Borromeo Boston Brentano Brooklyn Rider Calder Carpe Diem Cassatt Cavani Chiara Ciompi Cleveland Composers Concord Corigliano Curtis Del Sol Dover Emerson Enso Escher Esterhazy Ethel Fine Arts Flonzaley FLUX Formosa Fred Sherry Fry Street Guarneri Hampton Harlem Hawthorne Hollywood JACK Juilliard Kneisel Kronos Laclede LaSalle Miami Midnight Miró New Hungarian New World Oberlin Orion Pacifica Paganini Perolé Philadelphia Pro Arte San Francisco Section Soldier Sonus Stanford Takács Tokyo Turtle Island Vermeer Vitamin Yale Ying Zoellner Asian & Oceanic Australian Bond Goldner Jade New Zealand Shanghai T'ang Zephyr Austrian Alban Berg ALEA Barylli Hagen Hellmesberger Kolisch Mosaïques radio.string.quartet.vienna Rosé Schuppanzigh British Aeolian Alberni Allegri Amadeus Arditti Badke Balanescu Belcea Bond 3rd Brodsky 2nd Adolph Brodsky Coull Demon Strings Duke Element Endellion Escala Fitzwilliam Gabrieli Griller Kutcher Ligeti Lindsay London Maggini Medici Methera Philharmonia Philharmonic RaVen Regent Sacconi Salomon Smith Spencer Dyke Stratton Virtuoso Canadian Amati Annex Bozzini Conservatory Dubois New Orford St. Lawrence Toronto Vaghy Czech Bohemian Janáček Kocian Martinů Panocha Pavel Haas Prague Pražák Ševčík-Lhotský Smetana Talich Vlach New Vlach Wihan Eastern European Atom Moyzes Silesian Zagreb French Arpeggione Béla Capet Ébène Krettly Loewenguth Modigliani Pascal Prima Vista Ysaÿe German Amar 1st Adolph Brodsky Busch Fanny Mendelssohn Gewandhaus Henschel Ludwig Schuster Melos Müller Brothers Petersen Rosamunde Signum Vogler Hungarian Bartók Budapest (1886) Budapest (1917) Carmine Corvinus Danubius Festetics Hungarian Kodály Léner Takács Tátrai Végh Irish RTÉ Vanbrugh Israeli Ariel Aviv Carmel Jerusalem Italian Cremona Italiano Mexican Latinoamericano Northern European Galatea Oslo Vertavo Ysaÿe Russian Atrium Beethoven Borodin Komitas Kopelman Nevsky St. Petersburg Shostakovich Taneyev Spanish Casals Barcelona List of string quartet ensembles v t e Violin family Instruments Violin Electric violin Pochette Five-string violin Violino piccolo Alexander violin Stroh violin Viola Vertical viola Viola pomposa Tenor violin Cello Bass violin Baritone violin Cello da spalla Cellone Electric cello Double bass Electric upright bass Violone Octobass Parts Bass bar Bow Frog Bridge Chinrest Endpin F-hole Fingerboard Nut Scroll Shoulder rest Sound post Tailpiece Tuning peg Techniques Bowing Bow stroke Col legno Martelé Portato Spiccato Tremolo Arpeggio Harmonics Double stop Fingering Finger substitution Bariolage Pizzicato Scordatura (changing string tuning) Vibrato Ensembles and genres of music String quartet String trio String quintet String sextet String octet String section String orchestra Violin concerto Viola concerto Cello concerto Double bass concerto Violin sonata Viola sonata Cello sonata Carnatic music Related instruments Arpeggione Baryton Hardanger fiddle Hurdy-gurdy Lira da braccio Lirone Nyckelharpa Pochette Quinton Other Violin acoustics History of the violin Jazz bass Bass amplifier Big band Slap bass Jazz violin Rosin Stradivarius Viol Violin lutherie Violin musical styles Violin octet Category v t e Musical ensembles by number Solo: 1 Drum solo Guitar solo One-man band Piano solo Duet: 2 Piano duet Piano four hands Musical duo Bicinium Trio: 3 Clarinet trio Clarinet–cello–piano Clarinet–viola–piano Clarinet–violin–piano Flute, viola and harp Jazz trio Organ trio Piano Piano six hands Power trio (in rock music and heavy metal music) String Reed Quartet: 4 Jazz quartet Piano Rock or pop quartet Saxophone Flute String Wind Woodwind Quintet: 5 Brass Piano Pierrot ensemble Rock or pop quintet String Wind Sextet: 6 Piano String Other Septet: 7 Octet: 8 String Nonet: 9 Decet: 10 Undecet: 11 Duodecet: 12 Large groups Big band Brass band Choir Concert band Orchestra Singakademie String orchestra v t e Classical period List of Classical-era composers Composers First Viennese School Beethoven Haydn Mozart Schubert Mannheim school Beck Cannabich Fils Fränzl Holzbauer Richter C. Stamitz J. Stamitz Abel Albrechtsberger Arne C. P. E. Bach J. C. Bach J. C. F. Bach W. F. Bach F. Benda G. A. Benda Boccherini Boyce Cambini Cherubini Cimarosa Clementi Czerny Devienne Dittersdorf Duni Dussek Frederick the Great Galuppi Gluck Gossec C. H. Graun J. G. Graun Grétry Gyrowetz M. Haydn Hoffmeister Hummel Jommelli Kraus Koželuch Kreutzer Krommer Kuhlau Martín y Soler Martini Méhul Monn Monsigny L. Mozart Mysliveček Neruda Paisiello Philidor Piccinni Pleyel Pugnani Quantz Reicha Ries Rode Rosetti Rousseau Sacchini Saint-Georges Salieri Sammartini Sarti Schobert Soler Spohr Spontini Stanley Traetta Viotti Wagenseil Wanhal Wranitzky Zingarelli Instrumentation Classical orchestra String quartet Genres Galant music Intermezzo Pastorale Empfindsamkeit Turkish music (style) Techniques Notes inégales Galant Schemata Background Common practice period Classicism Age of Enlightenment Art Economics Physics ← Baroque music Romantic music → Category Portal Authority control databases International GND FAST National United States Japan Czech Republic Israel Other MusicBrainz instrument --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [String quartet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartet?action=history)). 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