# Listening tips for String Quartets



## nncortes

I have long been a fan of late-romantic and early 20th century symphonic music. (That is not what I only listen to, but definately my favorate.) However, I am trying to gain enjoyment from string quartet music. I find the string quartets of Haydn enjoyable, but have difficulty following the lines in late-romantic scores. I really enjoy Dvorak's American, but had difficulties with Sibelius' Voces intimae and Brahms' First Quartet. These are my favorate symphonic composers and I know thier symphonic output very well. I think I will keep listening to these pieces and they might eventually "click," but is there anything I really need to know compared to symphonic scores or anything in particular I should listen for?


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## Bulldog

Listen to the dialogue.


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## Bigbang

If you liked Haydn (classical style) then why bother worrying about periods and go to the best of the best : BEETHOVEN. 

Really I just listen and let it happen because it seems imbued with a power to weave itself into my consciousness. But with any work without repeated listening (I think if one cannot know what to listen for then one has to use imagination.

I love Dvorak string quartet. And when I listen to the slow movement it it reminds me of someone sobbing and wailing and another another person embracing them, comforting them during the embrace. No one else seems to hear this but I hear it this way. Very moving piece. 

Also you do not mention the artists, and this can be very important. I love the Italian Quartet in Beethoven. Recorded before all the hustle and bustle of our modern life and so they are steep in their time. They know the string quartet Beethoven and Schubert.


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## Allegro Con Brio

I think a couple of the quartets you mentioned are a little too dense and inaccessible if you're still trying to understand the genre (especially the Brahms). Though Beethoven was the one who hooked me (I still remember with fondness the overwhelming emotional reactions I had to the late quartets in my early days of discovering CM), many people can't connect with him right away. Try Tchaikovsky's 1st and Borodin's 2nd - both gloriously tuneful works that have less complexity of texture but no less wonderful craftsmanship (there's an album on Decca with the Gabrieli and Borodin quartets playing them, rounded off with Shostakovich's 8th which you might like if you are into his symphonies). Also Schubert's 14th, the "Death and the Maiden," seems to be a big hit with many even though I don't care much for it. Eventually you will find out what you love Also, if you want to dig into the string quartet genre and discover some hidden gems, I encourage you to participate in the Weekly Quartet  thread, where we listen to and discuss a different quartet every week.


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## nncortes

Thanks, I will definately check that out.


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## MarkW

Brahms string quartets are not his best chamber music.

Don't limit yourself to just string quartets. String quintets (Mozart, Schubert), sextets (Brahms) and octets (Mendelssohn) will help get you into chamber music. Also piano quartets (Schumann, Brahms, Faure, Mozart), and quintets (Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Harbison) will help ease you into how to listen.


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## juliante

Listen on a good music system - to ensure the richness of the cello and viola comes through.


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## Enthusiast

A long time back I had the same problem. But once I had got into Beethoven's quartets (starting with the middle period ones) I was sold on the medium and haven't looked back since then.


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## MarkW

The whole idea of string quartets intimidated me, until I went to my first concert -- the Guarneris, playing an early, middle, and late Beethoven. Live is the way to go at first.


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## HenryPenfold

Try Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 2


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## Eramire156

A good resource, and free is the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, not only can watch and listen to some of the concerts they have put on, but there are also lectures on various quartets as well other chamber pieces. When listening to CDs of music I don't know I like to listen on headphones.

I started listening my quartet listening with Ives and Carter, not something I'd recommend, start with Haydn and early or mid Beethoven, save late Beethoven for later.

Here is the link to the CMS https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/watch-and-listen/


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## BeoQuartet

Getting all the lines in your head at once is exactly the name of the game...we started playing Bach last year (where all the parts are nearly equal) to get better at that!

Hearing a piece with different parts missing is a great way to get to improve your listening. Any string players here can play along with the group too (the part you play is muted).

Bach-Art of Fuge
without Violin 1: 



without Violin 2: 



without Viola: 



without Cello: 




All instruments :




Sheet music : https://tinyurl.com/yd3jgvqh (scroll down to the 2 violins, viola, cello arrangement)

Cheers!


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## aussiebushman

Enthusiast said:


> A long time back I had the same problem. But once I had got into Beethoven's quartets (starting with the middle period ones) I was sold on the medium and haven't looked back since then.


I have a fairly extensive recording collection of chamber music and get great pleasure from the trio,quartet/quintet offerings of most composers. However, I do agree that "returning" to Beethoven is truly rewarding - especially the middle and late quartets. I have been especially fond of the "Harp" the Opus 127 and Opus 132 but the Opus 131 was Beethoven's own favorite and I have finally begun to realise why. It is possible that the movie "A late quartet" has been an influencing factor





 (Opus 127)





 (Opus 131)





 (A late quartet)


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## ORigel

You should try Shostakovich, Ravel, Smetana 1, Schnittke 3, Schubert 12-15, Bartok 4, and Beethoven 1-12.


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## ORigel

Allegro Con Brio said:


> I think a couple of the quartets you mentioned are a little too dense and inaccessible if you're still trying to understand the genre (especially the Brahms). Though Beethoven was the one who hooked me (I still remember with fondness the overwhelming emotional reactions I had to the late quartets in my early days of discovering CM), many people can't connect with him right away. Try Tchaikovsky's 1st and Borodin's 2nd - both gloriously tuneful works that have less complexity of texture but no less wonderful craftsmanship (there's an album on Decca with the Gabrieli and Borodin quartets playing them, rounded off with Shostakovich's 8th which you might like if you are into his symphonies). Also Schubert's 14th, the "Death and the Maiden," seems to be a big hit with many even though I don't care much for it. Eventually you will find out what you love Also, if you want to dig into the string quartet genre and discover some hidden gems, I encourage you to participate in the Weekly Quartet  thread, where we listen to and discuss a different quartet every week.


I was new to chamber music but connected with Beethoven 12 movements 1 and 3, Beethoven 14 movement 5, and the Grosse Fuge. I became enamored, and listened to those quartets for months so I could understand them.


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## Iota

I often feel one sees a different side to a composer in quartets, like seeing them at home rather than at the office perhaps. I used to find it harder to recognise a composer's style from a quartet, it could seem very different to the orchestral stuff.

I also really like the interplay, and the clarity and transparency of texture in quartets. Symphonic music for example has its own great attractions, but the difference can be like a brook and a thundering river, one sees a very different aspect of something essentially similar.


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## The nose

Elisabeth Maconchy's string quartets are amazing (they're on spotify).
I especially loved the first one.


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## aussiebushman

Eramire156 said:


> A good resource, and free is the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, not only can watch and listen to some of the concerts they have put on, but there are also lectures on various quartets as well other chamber pieces. When listening to CDs of music I don't know I like to listen on headphones.
> 
> I started listening my quartet listening with Ives and Carter, not something I'd recommend, start with Haydn and early or mid Beethoven, save late Beethoven for later.
> 
> Here is the link to the CMS https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/watch-and-listen/


Sincere thanks for that link!


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## aussiebushman

Actually, several of us (including me) have probably done "NNcortez" no favors by recommending the chamber music that WE like, rather than works that would appeal to him/her and lead to expanded enjoyment.

A case in point would be the Beethoven late quartets. As magnificent as they are, they are arguably not a particularly appropriate place to start engaging with the genre due to their relative complexity. The same would be true of Brahms and certainly of Shostakovitch.

Easier starting points might be:

Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5 



Haydn maybe should be obligatory listening!

Dvořák String Quartets No.12 Op.96 The American 



Possibly one of the most melodious works in the genre

Alexander Borodin - String Quartet No. 2 



Ditto

Gabriel Fauré: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121 (Amati Quartet): 



Harmonically somewhat more complex but very approachable

Suk: Quartet in A minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op.1 



OK so it is a Piano quartet, but what the hell! it is beautiful

String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46 (1943) by Viktor Ullmann 



 Much more "modern" but still wonderful and very approachable. No. you can't hire the viola player for private sessions!


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## ORigel

Haydn opus 77 quartets are among my favorites


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## jegreenwood

aussiebushman said:


> Actually, several of us (including me) have probably done "NNcortez" no favors by recommending the chamber music that WE like, rather than works that would appeal to him/her and lead to expanded enjoyment.
> 
> A case in point would be the Beethoven late quartets. As magnificent as they are, they are arguably not a particularly appropriate place to start engaging with the genre due to their relative complexity. The same would be true of Brahms and certainly of Shostakovitch.
> 
> Easier starting points might be:
> 
> Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
> 
> 
> 
> Haydn maybe should be obligatory listening!
> 
> Dvořák String Quartets No.12 Op.96 The American
> 
> 
> 
> Possibly one of the most melodious works in the genre
> 
> Alexander Borodin - String Quartet No. 2
> 
> 
> 
> Ditto
> 
> Gabriel Fauré: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121 (Amati Quartet):
> 
> 
> 
> Harmonically somewhat more complex but very approachable
> 
> Suk: Quartet in A minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op.1
> 
> 
> 
> OK so it is a Piano quartet, but what the hell! it is beautiful
> 
> String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46 (1943) by Viktor Ullmann
> 
> 
> 
> Much more "modern" but still wonderful and very approachable. No. you can't hire the viola player for private sessions!


If you're allowed a piano quartet, then I ask for consideration of a piano quintet - Schubert's "Trout," which may be the most melodic piece of chamber music ever written. If that's not allowed, then how about his Quartet No. 14.


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## Judith

I was mainly symphonies, concertos and sonatas until I discovered Endellion Quartet. Seen them live three times (met them once also and were very nice)and have a few of their recordings including the Beethoven Quartet set


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## Nickmb

I would add the Mozart Quintets, especially the G minor K516 which will make a huge impression on anyone not familiar with it. Try the Heutling version.


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