The term string quartet refers 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 double bass is almost never used in the ensemble mainly because it would sound too loud and heavy.
46-541: The Alban Berg Quartett ( ABQ ) was a string quartet founded in Vienna, named after the composer Alban Berg . Active from 1970 to 2008, the group included first violinist Günter Pichler and cellist Valentin Erben , while the second violinist was briefly Klaus Maetzl (1971–1978) and Gerhard Schulz from then onwards. The violist changed the most, Hatto Beyerle , Thomas Kakuska and Isabel Charisius . The Berg Quartet
92-744: A location (e.g. the Budapest Quartet ). Established quartets may undergo changes in membership whilst retaining their original name. Erich Urbanner Erich Urbanner (born 26 March 1936) is an Austrian composer and teacher. Born in Innsbruck , Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna , in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Hanns Jelinek , as well as studying piano with Grete Hinterhofer and conducting with Hans Swarowsky . At
138-584: 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 and Bartók ." Schubert's last musical wish was to hear Beethoven's Quartet in C ♯ minor, Op. 131 , 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
184-435: 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". The musicologist Cliff Eisen contextualizes
230-482: 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 Mozart , Beethoven and Schubert each wrote a number of them. Many Romantic and early-twentieth-century composers composed string quartets, including Mendelssohn , Schumann , Brahms , Dvořák , Janáček , and Debussy . There
276-464: A total of five string quartets; he won Pulitzer Prizes for two of them: No. 2 and No. 3 . Three important string quartets were written by Helmut Lachenmann . The late 20th century also saw the string quartet expand in various ways: Morton Feldman's vast Second String Quartet is one of the longest ever written, and Karlheinz Stockhausen's Helikopter-Streichquartett is to be performed by the four musicians in four helicopters. Quartets written during
322-646: 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 Dvořák wrote 14. In
368-541: The Baroque 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
414-550: The Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music he participated in further composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner , Karlheinz Stockhausen und Bruno Maderna . From 1961 he taught score-reading at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, becoming full professor of composition and harmony and counterpoint in 1969. Between 1969 and 1974 he was director of the seminar for twelve-tone music , and from 1986 to 1989 he
460-599: The Gramophone Award . Beyond recording, the ABQ collaborated regularly with the likes of Maurizio Pollini , András Schiff , and Tabea Zimmermann . String quartet The string quartet was developed into its present form by the Austrian composer 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
506-827: The Wiener Konzerthaus , at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall , the Frankfurt Alte Oper , the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, the Zurich Opera , as well as regular concerts at most major halls and venues around the world (among them La Scala , Concertgebow Amsterdam , Berliner Philharmonie , Carnegie Hall , Teatro Colón , Suntory Hall , etc.) and all
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#1732782921096552-460: The classical period usually had four movements, with a structure similar to that of a symphony : The positions of the slow movement and third movement 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 by
598-456: The "classical" string quartet around 1757, 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 ' – had for more than a hundred years. Even the composition of Haydn's earliest string quartets owed more to chance than artistic imperative. During
644-480: 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. 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
690-626: The ABQ continued performing with Isabel Charisius, a student of his. But as cellist Valentin Erben said, "There was a big rupture in our hearts" and the quartet retired in 2008. The concert in memoriam Thomas Kakuska in the Wiener Konzerthaus' Großer Saal featured a who's-who of classical music, including an orchestra of friends and students of the quartet. Among them were Angelika Kirchschlager , Elisabeth Leonskaja , Irvine Arditti , Magdalena Kožená , Thomas Quasthoff , Helmut Deutsch , Alois Posch, Heinrich Schiff , and Sir Simon Rattle ;
736-1525: The Amadeus Quartet. Quartets who studied with the Alban Berg Quartet include the Cuarteto Casals , the Schumann Quartett, the Amber Quartet (China), the Fauré Quartet , the Aviv Quartet, the aron quartett [ de ] , the Amaryllis Quartet, and in particular the Belcea Quartet , and the Artemis Quartet . The composers that wrote string quartets for the Alban Berg Quartet include, in chronological order, Fritz Leitermeyer [ de ] , Erich Urbanner (Quartets Nos. 1 and 4), Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (Quartets Nos. 1 and 2), Gottfried von Einem (Quartet No. 1), Wolfgang Rihm (Quartet No. 4 and "Requiem for Thomas"), Alfred Schnittke (Quartet No. 4), Zbigniew Bargielski ("Les temps ardente"), Luciano Berio ("Notturno"), and Kurt Schwertsik ("Adieu Satie"). In 2005, Thomas Kakuska died of cancer. In accordance with his wish,
782-510: 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." That Haydn's string quartets were already "classics" that defined
828-798: The Schubert string quintet (with Heinrich Schiff ), the Brahms clarinet quintet (with Sabine Meyer ), and the Mozart piano quartets and the piano quintet arrangement of the concerto KV 414 (with Alfred Brendel ). For their recordings, the ABQ received more than 30 international awards, among them the Grand Prix du Disque , the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis , the Japanese Grand Prix, the Edison Award , and
874-616: The difference between one masterpiece and the next." The musicologist Roger Hickman has however demurred 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 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
920-413: 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 . 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
966-459: 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 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
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#17327829210961012-419: 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 , 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 . The early history of
1058-575: The former said: "Personally I am indebted to the Alban Berg Quartet for an unforgettable event. Last year in Vienna, they played my quartet in a way such as will never be likely equaled." Following an invitation of Walter Levin (founder of the LaSalle Quartet ) the ABQ studied intensively for the better part of a year in the USA. The focus of their activities in Europe became annual concert cycles at
1104-407: The genre by 1801 can be judged by 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 intended for hearers rather than players – early examples of this genre of music publishing . Since Haydn's day, the string quartet has been prestigious and considered one of
1150-575: 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 ) from 2001 to 2007. Margaret Jones Wiles composed over 50 string quartets. David Matthews has written eleven, and Robin Holloway both five quartets and six "quartettini". Over nearly five decades, Elliott Carter wrote
1196-430: 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
1242-444: The keyboard part, letting the cello support the bass line alone. Thus when 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. The musicologist Hartmut Schick has suggested that Franz Xaver Richter invented
1288-657: The last 20 years of its existence. Among them was—following their original studio Beethoven cycle from the late 70s and early 80s—a new Beethoven String Quartet cycle recorded live at the Konzerthaus during the Vienna Festival in 1989 and released on CD, video, and DVD. The Alban Berg Quartet recorded chamber music with some of the finest soloists of their time, including the piano quintets of Robert Schumann (with Philippe Entremont ), Schubert and Brahms (with Elisabeth Leonskaja ) and Dvoràk (with Rudolf Buchbinder ),
1334-441: The late Schubert (EMI), but their repertoire on disc stretched further to Mendelssohn, Schumann, Janácek , Stravinsky , Berg, Webern, Bartók, von Einem , Lutosławski, Rihm , Berio, Haubenstock-Ramati to Schnittke and beyond. Many of the latter, contemporary, composers wrote works specially dedicated to the ABQ. After EMI released a live recording of their 1985 Carnegie Hall debut, the quartet preferred making live recordings for
1380-919: The major music festivals such as the Berliner Festwochen , the Edinburgh Festival , IRCAM in the Pompidou Centre , the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , and the Salzburg Festival . The ABQ is an Honorary Member of the Wiener Konzerthaus and Associate Artist of the Royal Festival Hall London. From 1993 until 2012, the members of the Alban Berg Quartet were lecturing at the Cologne Conservatory in succession of
1426-469: The modern era, the string quartet played a key role in the development of Schoenberg (who added a soprano in his String Quartet No. 2 ), Bartók , and Shostakovich especially. After the Second World War , some composers, such as Messiaen questioned the relevance of the string quartet and avoided writing them. However, from the 1960s onwards, many composers have shown a renewed interest in
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1472-474: The orchestra was conducted by Claudio Abbado . After a worldwide farewell tour in July 2008, the ABQ ended its career. Recordings were an important part of the work of the Alban Berg Quartet. Among the most famous recordings projects are the complete string quartets by Beethoven ( EMI , which has sold more than a million copies), Brahms ( Teldec and EMI), the late Haydn (EMI), the late Mozart (Teldec and EMI) and
1518-454: 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 they offered to their own time state-of-the art models to follow for the best part of a decade; the teenage Mozart , in his early quartets, was among the composers moved to imitate many of their characteristics, right down to the vital fugues with which Haydn sought to bring greater architectural weight to
1564-564: The pursuit of the more advanced quartet style found in the eighteen works published in the early 1770s as Opp. 9, 17, and 20 . 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 skilful though often restrained use of counterpoint. The convincing realizations of
1610-910: 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 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 ], 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
1656-476: The string quartet is in many ways the history of the development of the genre by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn . There had been examples of divertimenti 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
1702-477: The string quartet: Further expansions have also produced works such as the String octet by Mendelssohn , consisting of the equivalent of two string quartets. Notably, Schoenberg included a soprano 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
1748-449: 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 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. Many other chamber groups can be seen as modifications of
1794-550: The traditional string quartet is the electric string quartet with players performing on electric instruments . Notable works for string quartet include: 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
1840-413: The true tests of a composer's art. This may be partly because the palette of sound is more restricted than with orchestral music, forcing the music to stand more on its own rather than relying on tonal color ; or from the inherently contrapuntal tendency in music written for four equal instruments. Quartet composition flourished in the Classical era. Mozart , Beethoven and Schubert each composed
1886-407: The widespread practice of four players, one to a part, playing works written for string orchestra , such as divertimenti and serenades , there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century. However, these composers showed no interest in exploring the development of the string quartet as a medium. The origins of the string quartet can be further traced back to
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1932-551: 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 , Bartók , Shostakovich , Babbitt , and 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
1978-492: Was director of the Institute for Electro-acoustic and Experimental Music. Amongst his pupils are the composers Olga Neuwirth , Thomas Larcher , Gilles Bellemare , Johanna Doderer , Miguel del Aguila , Clemens Gadenstätter , Wolfram Wagner , James Poke , Lukas Ligeti , Alexander Wagendristl and Gerhard Schedl . Amongst Urbanner's compositions are works for solo instruments, chamber music, orchestral works, including
2024-563: Was founded in 1970 by four young professors of the Vienna Academy of Music , and made its debut in the Vienna Konzerthaus in autumn 1971. The widow of the composer Alban Berg , Helene, attended an early private concert after which she gave her consent for the quartet to use her husband's name. The Quartet's repertoire was centered on the Viennese classics, but with a serious emphasis on 20th-century classical music . It
2070-419: Was the stated goal of the quartet to include at least one modern work in each performance. Their repertoire spanned from Early Classicism, Romanticism , to the Second Viennese School (Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg , Anton Webern ), Béla Bartók and embraced many contemporary composers. This took expression not the least in personal statements by composers like Witold Lutosławski and Luciano Berio , of whom
2116-496: Was to make a significant step in the genre's development. The intervening years saw Haydn begin his employment as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy princes, for whom he was required to compose numerous symphonies and dozens of trios for violin, viola, and the bass instrument called the baryton (played by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy himself). The opportunities for experiment which both these genres offered Haydn perhaps helped him in
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