The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet (Cambridge Companions to Music)

This Companion offers a concise and authoritative survey of the string quartet by eleven chamber music specialists. Its fifteen carefully structured chapters provide coverage of a stimulating range of perspectives previously unavailable in one volume. It focuses on four main areas: the social and musical background to the quartet's development; the most celebrated ensembles; string quartet playing, including aspects of contemporary and historical performing practice; and the mainstream repertory, including significant 'mixed ensemble' compositions involving string quartet. Various musical and pictorial illustrations and informative appendixes, including a chronology of the most significant works, complete this indispensable guide. Written for all string quartet enthusiasts, this Companion will enrich readers' understanding of the history of the genre, the context and significance of quartets as cultural phenomena, and the musical, technical and interpretative problems of chamber music performance. It will also enhance their experience of listening to quartets in performance and on recordings. Part I. Social Changes and Organological Developments: 1. The string quartet and society Christina Bashford 2. Developments in instruments, bows and accessories Robin Stowell Part II. Celebrated Ensembles: 3. From chamber to concert hall Tully Potter 4. The concert explosion and the age of recording Tully Potter Part III. Playing String Quartets: 5. Playing quartets: a view from the inside David Waterman 6. Historical awareness in quartet performance Simon Standage 7. Extending the technical and expressive frontiers Robin Stowell Part IV. The String Quartet Repertory: 8. The origins of the quartet David Wyn Jones 9. The Classical style: Haydn, Mozart and their contemporaries W. Dean Sutcliffe 10. Beethoven and the Viennese legacy David Wyn Jones 11. The Austro-Germanic quartet tradition in the nineteenth century Stephen E. Hefling 12. Traditional and progressive nineteenth-century trends: France, Italy, Great Britain and America Robin Stowell 13. Nineteenth-century national traditions and the string quartet Jan Smaczny 14. The string quartet in the twentieth century Kenneth Gloag 15. The string quartet as a foundation for larger ensembles Colin Lawson. This survey of the string quartet by ten chamber music specialists focuses on four main areas: social and musical background to the genre's development; celebrated ensembles and their significance; and string quartet playing. It reviews aspects of contemporary and historical practice, including "mixed ensembles." Informative appendixes and a full chronology of the mainstream repertory complete this compact guide. Was the first book to provide such a comprehensive view of the string quartet Considers the repertory for string quartet as well as practical aspects of performance Edited by the best-selling Cambridge editor of companions to the violin and cello

Will enrich readers' understanding of the history of the string quartet, the music and its interpretation.

We are 'living in a bad time for practising the intimate, introspective art of the string quartet'.