The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists, a violist, and a

cellist 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, G2, D3 ...

. The string quartet was developed into its present form by composers such as Franz Xaver Richter, and

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, whose works in the 1750s established the ensemble as a group of four more-or-less equal partners. Since Haydn 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, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert each wrote a number of them. Many Romantic and early-twentieth-century composers composed string quartets, including

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

, Leoš Janáček and

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

. 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 The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna. ...

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...

and 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, with the first movement in sonata form, allegro, in the tonic key; a slow movement in a related key and a minuet and trio follow; and the fourth movement is often in rondo form or

sonata rondo form Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms. Structure Sonata and rondo forms Rondo form involves the repeated use of a theme (sometimes called ...

, in the tonic key. Some string quartet ensembles play together for many years and become established and promoted as an entity in a similar way to an instrumental soloist or an orchestra.

History and development

The early history of the string quartet is in many ways the history of the development of the genre by the Austrian composer

. There had been examples of

divertimenti ''Divertimento'' (; from the Italian '' divertire'' "to amuse") is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the ''divertimento'' is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and ...

for two solo violins, viola and cello by the Viennese composers Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Ignaz Holzbauer; and there had long been a tradition of performing orchestral works one instrument to a part. The British musicologist David Wyn Jones cites the widespread practice of four players, one to a part, playing works written for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...

, such as divertimenti and

serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...

s, there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century. Franz Xaver Richter's Op. 5 set of seven intricately contrapuntal string quartets (1757) anticipate Joseph Haydn's sets of the genre. The origins of the string quartet can be further traced back to the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

trio sonata, in which two solo instruments performed with a continuo section consisting of a bass instrument (such as the cello) and keyboard. A very early example is a four-part sonata for string ensemble by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri that might be considered an important prototype. 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 Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

wrote a set of six works entitled (Sonata for four instruments: two violins, viola, and cello without harpsichord), this was a natural evolution from the existing tradition. Haydn is responsible for the string quartet in its now accepted form. Although he did not invent the combination of two violins, viola and cello, previous occurrences in chamber music were more likely due to circumstance rather than conscious design, and scholars today such as Roger Hickman argue "the idea that Haydn invented the string quartet and single-handedly advanced the genre is based on only a vague notion of the true history of the eighteenth-century genre.". The string quartet enjoyed no recognized status as an ensemble in the way that two violins with basso continuo – the so-called '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. 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 of the music-loving Austrian nobleman

Karl Joseph Weber, Edler von Fürnberg Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

. 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.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 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, several stages from Vienna, and he invited from time to time his pastor, his manager, Haydn, and Albrechtsberger (a brother of the celebrated
contrapuntist In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
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, 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.

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 I, slow movement, minuet and trio II, and fast

finale Finale may refer to: Pieces of music * Finale (music), the last movement of a piece * ''Finale'' (album), a 1977 album by Loggins and Messina * "Finale B", a 1996 song from the rock opera ''Rent'' * "Finale", a song by Anthrax from ''State of Eu ...

. As Ludwig Finscher notes, they draw stylistically on the Austrian divertimento tradition. 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 (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

to the Esterhazy princes, for whom he was required to compose numerous symphonies and dozens of trios for violin, viola and the curious bass instrument called the baryton (played by Prince

Nikolaus Esterhazy Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

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. 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 skilful though often self-effacing 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. Certainly Haydn's string quartets offered to their own time state-of-the art models to follow for the best part of a decade; the teenage

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, in his early quartets, was probably among the composers moved to imitate many of their characteristics, but it is also possible Mozart drew inspiration from works of other 18th-century genres of similar part-writing idiom, such as his more serious Divertimenti (K. 247 and K. 334) or the string quartet works of Franz Xaver Richter, Franz Ignaz von Beecke, whom he knew in person, to write his own mature string quartet works. It is also disputed how much impact Joseph Haydn alone had on Mozart in string ensemble works in general. Euna Na points out by examining works composed by

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 173710 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. ...

in 1773 (MH 187, MH 188, MH 189), that in string ensemble works, Mozart shares far more linguistic elements such as chromatic harmony and theatrical gestures with Michael Haydn; "Wolfgang seems to have been influenced earlier and more directly by Michael than by Joseph". Striking examples of linguistic similarity are found in the slow movements of Michael's F major MH 367 and Mozart's C major K. 465, for example. Professor David Wyn Jones states that "in Salzburg, if not throughout his life, Mozart was writing in a lingua franca and many of the features of that language are to be found in Michael Haydn too".. The finale of Mozart's G major K. 387, for instance, points back to that of Michael's MH 287, in which the finale is also a fugato based on a theme of four whole notes, which Mozart copied out the first few bars of and was mistakenly entered into Köchel's original catalog as K. 291. Michael Haydn's authentic works in the string quartet medium consist of the A major (MH 299), the B flat major (MH 316) and most notably, the D major (MH 319). It is also speculated that Franz Ignaz von Beecke (1733-1803)'s string quartets from (cir.) 1770 and 1780, which display thematic development and interplay of voices to a similar degree as Joseph Haydn's, inspired Mozart's. Especially for example, Beecke's C major quartet from (cir.) 1780 contains a dissonant slow introduction, a feature of Mozart's C major K. 465 (1785) and none of Joseph Haydn's Op. 20 and Op. 33 sets. Quartet composition flourished in the Classical era.

, Beethoven and 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

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and

." Schubert's last musical wish was to hear Beethoven's Quartet in C minor, Op. 131, which he did 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, Beethoven cited his own favorite as Op. 131, which he saw as his most perfect single work. Mendelssohn's six string quartets span the full range of his career, from 1828 to 1847; Schumann's three string quartets 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

wrote 14. In the modern era, the string quartet played a key role in the development of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

(who was the first to add a soprano in his String Quartet No. 2),

, and

especially. After the Second World War, some composers, such as

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

questioned the relevance of the string quartet and avoided writing them. 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, Peter Maxwell Davies produced a set of ten entitled the Naxos Quartets (to a commission from

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

) from 2001 to 2007.

Margaret Jones Wiles Margaret Isobel Jones Wiles (Dec 25, 1911 – Jul 6, 2000) was an American composer, conductor, and teacher who played violin and viola with several orchestras and composed over 50 string quartets. She received a B. Mus. from DePauw University in I ...

composed over 50 string quartets. David Matthews has written eleven, and Robin Holloway both five quartets and six "quartettini".

String quartet traditional form

A composition for four players of stringed instruments may be in any form. Quartets written in the classical period usually have four movements with a large-scale structure similar to that of a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

: * First movement: Sonata form, Allegro, in the tonic key; * Second movement:

Slow movement Slow movement may refer to: *Slow movement (music) *Slow movement (culture) *Bradykinesia Hypokinesia is one of the classifications of movement disorders, and refers to decreased bodily movement. Hypokinesia is characterized by a partial or comp ...

, in a related key; * Third movement: Minuet and Trio or (in later works) Scherzo and trio, in the tonic key; * Fourth movement: Rondo form or

Sonata rondo form Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms. Structure Sonata and rondo forms Rondo form involves the repeated use of a theme (sometimes called ...

, in the tonic key. The relative positions of the slow movement and minuet are flexible. For example, in Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn, 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 in 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 and fifth string quartets, written in the 1930s, are five-movement works, symmetrical around a central movement. Shostakovich's final quartet, written in the 1970s, comprises six slow movements.

Variations of string quartet

Many other chamber groups can be seen as modifications of the string quartet: * The string quintet is a string quartet augmented by a fifth string instrument.

employed two violas in his string quintets, while Schubert's string quintet utilized two cellos.

Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and ''galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European ...

wrote a few quintets with a double bass as the fifth instrument. Most of Boccherini's string quintets are for two violins, viola, and two cellos. * The string trio has one violin, a viola, and a cello. * The piano trio has a piano, a violin, and a cello. * The

piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

is a string quartet with an added piano. * The piano quartet is a string quartet with one of the violins replaced by a piano. * The clarinet quintet is a string quartet with an added

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, such as those by

and Brahms. * The 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 by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

, consisting of the equivalent of two string quartets. Notably,

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

included a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

in the last two movements of his second string quartet, composed in 1908. Adding a voice has since been done by Milhaud, Ginastera, Ferneyhough, Davies, İlhan Mimaroğlu and many others. Another variation on the traditional string quartet is the electric string quartet with players performing on electric instruments.

Notable string quartets

Some of the most notable works for string quartet include: *

's 68 string quartets, in particular Op. 20, Op. 33, Op. 76, Op. 64, No. 5 ("The Lark") and the string quartet version of "The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross" ( Op. 51)Famous String quartets
, ''SapphireQuartet.co.uk''. * Luigi Boccherini's 91 string quartets * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 23 string quartets, in particular the set of six dedicated to Haydn, including K. 465 ("Dissonance") * Ludwig van Beethoven's 16 string quartets, in particular the five "middle" quartets Op. 59 nos 1–3, op. 74 and op. 95 as well as the five late quartets, Op. 127 in E flat major, op. 130 in B flat major, Op. 131 in C sharp minor (in seven movements), Op. 132 in A minor, Op. 135 in F major and the ''Grosse Fuge'' in B-flat major Op. 133, the original final movement of Op. 130. * Ferdinand Ries's 25 string quartets * Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 12 in C minor ("Quartettsatz"), String Quartet No. 13 in A minor ("Rosamunde"), String Quartet No. 14 in D minor ("Death and the Maiden"), and String Quartet No. 15 in G major * Louis Spohr's 36 string quartets *

's String Quartet No. 2 (early example of cyclic form) *

's three string quartets, Op. 41 * Robert Volkmann's six string quartets "enjoyed great popularity until the early 20th century" * Mihály Mosonyi's six string quartets *

Leó Weiner Leó Weiner (16 April 1885 – 13 September 1960) was one of the leading Hungarian music educators of the first half of the twentieth century, and a composer. Life Education Weiner was born in Budapest to a Jewish family. His brother g ...

's three numbered quartets and the two first divertimentos. * László Lajtha's 10 quartets, especially the no. 10 'Transylvanian Suite' op. 58. *

's three string quartets, Op. 51 No. 1 (in C minor), Op. 51 No. 2 (in A minor) and Op. 67 (in B-flat major) * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's three string quartets * Niels Gade's String Quartet No. 3, Op. 63 (1888) *

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

's String Quartets Nos. 9–14, particularly String Quartet No. 12 in F major, "American"; also No. 3 is an exceptionally long quartet (lasting 65 minutes) * Bedřich Smetana's two quartets, especially String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, "From my Life", considered the first piece of chamber programme music *

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

's six string quartets, especially long Quartet No. 3 in D minor, Op. 74, Quartet No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 109, and the last, Quartet No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Op. 121 * César Franck's String Quartet in D major *

's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (1893) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, in F major (1903) * Jean Sibelius's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 56, ''

Voces intimae ' (English translation: "Intimate voices" or "Inner voices"), Op. 56, is a five-movement string quartet written in 1909 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He composed the work in D minor. It is the only major work for string quartet of his ma ...

'' * Leoš Janáček's two string quartets, String Quartet No. 1, "Kreutzer Sonata" (1923), inspired by Leo Tolstoy's novel '' The Kreutzer Sonata'', itself named after Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata; and his second string quartet, '' Intimate Letters'' (1928) *

's six string quartets (1909, 1915–17, 1926, 1927, 1934, 1939) * Alexander Zemlinsky's Second String Quartet, Op. 15 (1913–15) *

's four string quartets – 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) *

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

's String Quartet, Op. 3 and '' Lyric Suite'', later adapted for string orchestra * Anton Webern's Five Movements, Op.5 (1909), Six Bagatelles, Op.9 (1913), and Quartet, Op. 28 (1937–38) * Frank Bridge's Third and Fourth Quartets * Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet (1931) * Darius Milhaud's set of eighteen string quartets written from 1912 to 1950, including nos. 14 and 15 op. 291, which can be played simultaneously as a string octet * Alois Hába's 16 string quartets *

's 15 string quartets, in particular the String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 (1960), and No. 15 Op. 144 (1974) in six Adagio movements * William Alwyn's three published string quartets as well as several unpublished quartets * Rued Langgard's six string quartets as well as several other works for string quartets * Elizabeth Maconchy's 13 string quartets * Robert Simpson's 16 string quartets *

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

's 17 string quartets, in particular the Fifth ("Popular"), Sixth ("Brazilian"), and Seventeenth String Quartets *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's ''

String Quartet in Four Parts ''String Quartet in Four Parts'' is a string quartet by John Cage, composed in 1950. It is one of the last works Cage wrote that is not entirely indeterminate. Like ''Sonatas and Interludes'' for prepared piano (1946–48) and the ballet '' The Se ...

'' * Elliott Carter's five string quartets * Iannis Xenakis's ''ST/4'' (1962) *

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

's four string quartets * Mauricio Kagel's String Quartet (1965–67) * György Ligeti's Second String Quartet (1968) *

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

's eight string quartets, as well as Suite from ''Bent'' (1997), ''Dracula'' for string quartet (1998) and ''King Lear'' for string quartet (2019) *

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

's six string quartets *

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

's '' Black Angels'' * Henri Dutilleux's ''

Ainsi la nuit ''Ainsi la nuit'' (''Thus the Night'') is a string quartet written by the French composer Henri Dutilleux between 1973 and 1976. It was premiered in 1977 by the Parrenin Quartet. It is considered one of the most important works in the genre and ...

'' * Silvestre Revueltas' four string quartets * Morton Feldman's String Quartet No. 2 (1983), exceptionally long quartet (four and a half to over five hours depending on performance, although in some performances the audience is not expected to stay for its entirety) * Wolfgang Rihm's thirteen numbered string quartets as well as ''Grave'' and ''Quartettstudie'' * Karlheinz Stockhausen's '' Helikopter-Streichquartett'' (1992–93), to be played by the four musicians in four helicoptersKarlheinz Stockhausen,.. "Helikopter-Streichquartett", ''Grand Street'' 14, no. 4 (Spring 1996, "Grand Street 56: Dreams"): 213–25. . Online variant version 999 as
Introduction: HELICOPTER STRING QUARTET (1992/93)
(some omissions, some supplements, different illustrations; archive from 17 November 2014, accessed 11 August 2016). *

Georges Lentz Georges Lentz is a contemporary composer and sound artist, born in Luxembourg in 1965 and that country's internationally best known composer. Since 1990, he has been living in Sydney, Australia. Despite his relatively small output and his reclus ...

's 372 minute / 24 hour surround-sound digital ''String Quartet(s)'', permanently projected in the Cobar Sound Chapel, with the architecture and environment part of the composition

String quartets (ensembles)

Whereas individual string players often group together to make 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), a composer (e.g. the Borodin Quartet) or a location (e.g. the Budapest Quartet). Established quartets may undergo changes in membership whilst retaining their original name.

References

Sources

* * * * * * Griffiths, Paul: ''The String Quartet: A History'' (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1983); . * * * Rosen, Charles: ''The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven'' (London: Faber & Faber, 1971); (soft covers), (hardback). * Steinhardt, Arnold: ''Indivisible by Four'' (Farrar, Straus Giroux, 1998); . * * Webster, James & Feder, Georg: "Joseph Haydn", article in: ''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, ). * * The Oxford Companion to Music Percy A. Scholes. Oxford University Press, 1938

External links

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* ttp://www.all-about-beethoven.com/stringquartet.html Beethoven's string quartets
Art of the States: string quartet
works for string quartet by American composers
String Quartet Sound-bites from lesser known composers
E.G. Onslow, Viotti, Rheinberger, Gretchaninov, A.Taneyev, Kiel, Busoni & many more.
European archive
String quartet recordings on copyright free Lp's at the European Archive (for non-American users only).

String quartet compositions and performers since about 1914 and the connections between them
{{DEFAULTSORT:String Quartet state = collapsed Chamber music Types of musical groups