{{No footnotes, date=January 2014 The quatuor concertant is a special form of string quartet that developed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

around 1775 and became one of the leading genres of Parisian music until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Name

The name "quatuor concertant" appears often in the scores of string quartets published in Paris, not always corresponding to the characteristics below. While the term initially was simply used to highlight the soloistic character of the piece, from around 1776 on it is mainly used for string quartets in which the different voices alternately take the leading role.

Characteristics

The ''quatuors concertants'' are generally two movements, or rarely three movements. The two-movement works usually consist of an Allegro for the first movement and a

Rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

or Theme and variations for the second. The three-movement pieces usually have a slower movement in the middle before a presto finale. Characteristic of the ''quatuor concertants'' are the alternating solos in the different voices, sometimes including the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

, catchy, often operatic, melodies, and a great ingenuity in harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic detail. There are clear parallels to the '' sinfonie concertante'' which was popular at the same time. A special form is the ''Quatuor d'airs connus'', which is based on the variation of a popular melody, derived either from

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

or from an opera

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

. The ''quatuor concertants'' should be distinguished from the Quatuor brillant that became popular around 1800, and in which the first violin dominates to the accompaniment of the other three voices.

Important composers of string quartets in Paris from 1770-1789

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French exc ...

(6 string quartets, Op.15, 1772) * Nicholas Joseph Chartrain (36 string quartets, 1772-1785) * Pierre Vachon (24 string quartets, ca.1772- ca.1782) * Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (18 string quartets, 1773-1785) * Jean-Baptiste Davaux (25 string quartets, 1773-1807) *

Giuseppe Cambini Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini ( Livorno, 13 February? 1746Netherlands? 1810s? or Paris? 1825?) was an Italian composer and violinist. Life Unconfirmed information Information about his life is scarcely traceable. Louis-Gabriel Michaud,Louis-Ga ...

(174 quartets, 1773-1805, including one with flute) * Etienne Bernard Barrière (18 string quartets, 1776-1782) * Jean-Baptiste Bréval (18 string quartets, 1776-1785) *

Nicolas Dalayrac Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...

(36 string quartets, 1777-1781) * Josephus Fodor (24 string quartets, 1781-1789) *

Giovanni Battista Viotti Giovanni Battista Viotti (12 May 1755 – 3 March 1824) was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness. He was also a director of French and Italia ...

(15 string quartets, 1783-1817) * Federigo Fiorillo (15 string quartets, 1786-1799)

References

* Krummacher, Friedhelm. ''Das Streichquartett, Bd. 1: Von Haydn bis Schubert'' (''Handbuch der musikalischen Gattungen'' 6,1), 2001, p. 191-222. * Trimpert, Dieter Lutz. ''Die Quatuors concertants von Giuseppe Cambini''. Schneider: Tutzing, 1967. * Levy, Janet Muriel. ''The Quatuor concertant in Paris in the Later Half of the Eighteenth Century'', Diss. Stanford 1971.