3 | The String Quartet

Developed in the Classical era, the string quartet is a genre for four instruments: two violins, a viola, and a cello. The plan for a string quartet, with its four movements, is close to that of the symphony; compare page 181. Indeed, next to the symphony the quartet counts as the most important genre of Classical music.

MOVEMENTS OF THE STRING QUARTET
OPENING MOVEMENT SLOW MOVEMENT MINUET (WITH TRIO) CLOSING MOVEMENT
Tempo Fast/moderate Slow/very slow Moderate Fast/very fast
Form Sonata form Sonata form, variations, rondo form, or other Minuet form Sonata form or rondo form

The quartet may have as many movements as the symphony, but of course it doesn’t have as many instruments, and it cannot match the symphony’s range of volume and tone color. This can disappoint listeners today. For the eighteenth century, however, volume was no issue, because quartets were never intended for concert listening. They were intended primarily for the performers, with small, informal audiences — or none at all. History tells of a quartet session with Haydn and Mozart playing along with two other well-known musicians of the time, the only audience being Mozart’s family and their two servants.

As for range of tone color, the quartet compensates for lack of variety by its own special qualities: nuance, delicacy, and subtlety. Without any conductor, the quartet players are partners responding to one another as only old, close friends can. As developed by Haydn, the four instruments of the quartet grow more and more similar in their actual musical material, and more and more interdependent. There is a fine interplay as they each react to musical gestures by the others, sometimes supporting them, sometimes countering.

This interplay has been aptly compared to the art of cultivated conversation — witty, sensitive, always ready with a perfectly turned phrase — that was especially prized in eighteenth-century salons (see page 152).

There are dozens of wonderful string quartets by Haydn and ten equally wonderful ones by Mozart. Beethoven’s sixteen string quartets, composed from the beginning to the end of his career, today stand at the heart of the repertory. To get an idea of the varieties of intimate expression these four instruments could achieve, go back to Listening Exercise 7 (page 34) and listen to the beginning of a string quartet movement by Franz Schubert.