# 20th/21st-c composers who wrote a lot of quartets (or other continuity in forces)



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

I'm among those for whom the string quartet is probably one of the most satisfying sound-ideals to be found in classical music, and I have a great appreciation for composers who devote a lot of energy to exploring the nuances of this specific combo. But it seems that since the Romantics many composers have been more excited about exploring a wide variety of chamber setups rather than honing in on one combination. So I was delighted to discover recently the 20 quartets of Holmboe, and realized I am interested in others like him who break the aforementioned mold - most particularly in the realm of string quartets but, really, anybody who returns again and again to a specific instrumental setup (other than orchestra or solo piano...)

Thanks!


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Peter Sculthorpe (18)
Mieczyslaw Weinberg (17)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (17)
Alfred Hill (17)
Nikolai Myaskovsky (13)
Ben Johnston (10)
Per Nørgård (10)
Peter Maxwell Davies (10)

These are the first to come to mind (well, obviously there's Shostakovich, but I think everyone knows his quartets), all worthwhile exploring.


----------



## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

First of all: what is a lot for you? 

Assuming it's above three:
Schönberg 
Krenek
Zemlinsky
Hindemith
Martinu
Schnittke
Dusapin
Meyer
Ferneyhough
Gubaidúlina
Milhaud
Weinberg
Rihm
Langgaard
Carter
Rautavaara
Babbitt
Scelsi
Maconchy
Widmann
Bartók


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Maxwell Davies
Ernst Toch
Ernst Krenek
Bacewicz
Joan Tower
Shostakovich
Wolfgang Rihm
Weinberg


----------



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> First of all: what is a lot for you?
> 
> Assuming it's above three:


No! Three is so few! I'm talking about a career-long dedication to the form!



Art Rock said:


> Peter Sculthorpe (18)
> Mieczyslaw Weinberg (17)
> Heitor Villa-Lobos (17)
> Alfred Hill (17)
> ...


These are better numbers...

And yes, it's probably about time for me to re-listen to Shosty's.


----------



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> First of all: what is a lot for you?
> 
> Assuming it's above three:
> Schönberg
> ...


That said, I do appreciate these recs, and see composers I much enjoy alongside many I've never listened to.


----------



## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Robert Simpson (15) recorded on hyperion


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*20th/21st-c composers who wrote a lot of quartets ...*



cheregi said:


> ... I have a great appreciation for composers who devote a lot of energy to exploring the nuances of this specific combo. ...
> Thanks!





allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> First of all: what is a lot for you?


20th century composer Morton Feldman may not be known for _a lot_ of string quartets (he wrote two), but his formidable String Quartet No. 2, lasting somewhere between five and just over six hours, is certainly _a lot_ of string quartet. Perhaps you should check that out. (Or, you could listen to _all six_ of Bartok's string quartets in the same amount of time.)


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some other, fine quartet composers: 

Yuri Levitin, mostly unrecorded (~12)
Hilding Rosenberg (~13)
George Rochberg (7)
Laszlo Lajtha (10)
Krzystof Meyer (15)
Gian Francesco Malipiero (8)
Karl Erik Welin (at least 9; not all recorded)
John Fernström (8, not all recorded)

also:
Hans Werner Henze (5)


----------



## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

cheregi said:


> No! Three is so few! I'm talking about a career-long dedication to the form!


Numbers can be misleading! In my recs I'd forgot about Peter Maxwell Davies, who wrote 10 great quartets, but most of them were written between 2003 and 2005, and the whole cycle was finished by 2007, when the composer was in his 80's. Whereas Schönberg on the other hand wrote his first quartet in 1905 and his last in 1936. They could very well be outliers, but I think you get the picture of what I'm trying to say.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

cheregi said:


> anybody who returns again and again to a specific instrumental setup (other than orchestra or solo piano...)
> 
> Thanks!


Yes James Tenney returned again and again to the instrumental setup of six harps, the works have all been recorded in a CD called Changes.

Also Karlheinz Stockhausen's Klang contains many pieces for wind trio - bass clarinet, flute, that sort of thing.


----------



## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Among recent less famous and less than less famous prolific quartet composers, there are some real gems:

Ezra Laderman: 12
Ben Johnston: 10
Samuel Adler: 10 
Gloria Coates: 9
David Matthews: 14
Kevin Volans: 12
James Dillon: 9
Elena Firsova: 12
Georg Friedrich Haas: 11
Shigeru Kan-no: 10
Nicolas Bacri: 9


----------



## cheregi (Jul 16, 2020)

SONNET CLV said:


> 20th century composer Morton Feldman may not be known for _a lot_ of string quartets (he wrote two), but his formidable String Quartet No. 2, lasting somewhere between five and just over six hours, is certainly _a lot_ of string quartet. Perhaps you should check that out. (Or, you could listen to _all six_ of Bartok's string quartets in the same amount of time.)


It's only a natural progression from the way Beethoven's late quartets subsume his own early quartets which subsume classical-era quartets in length... Feldman's really just ahead of the curve...



allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> Numbers can be misleading! In my recs I'd forgot about Peter Maxwell Davies, who wrote 10 great quartets, but most of them were written between 2003 and 2005, and the whole cycle was finished by 2007, when the composer was in his 80's. Whereas Schönberg on the other hand wrote his first quartet in 1905 and his last in 1936. They could very well be outliers, but I think you get the picture of what I'm trying to say.


Good point.



Mandryka said:


> Yes James Tenney returned again and again to the instrumental setup of six harps, the works have all been recorded in a CD called Changes.


Six harps! I'm assuming that's largely about tuning/temperament experimentation...


----------



## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Alois Hába wrote 18 string quartets throughout his career. Many of them use quarter-tone or sixth-tone.
String quartet is an important form for Terry Riley, who composed about 15 works during 1980~2008.
Thomas Oboe Lee composed 15 string quartet works during 1974~2021. I only listened to few of them, but what I heard are melodic, romantic and very fine.
Raymond Murray Schafer (1933-2021) known for Soundscape concept wrote 13 string quartets (1970~2015).
I also like Alexandre Tansman's 8 string quartets (composed 1917~1956), Babbitt (6), Sciarrino (9).


----------



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Lorenzo Perosi (18), all written between 1928 and 1931, some say as sort of therapeutic exercises to overcome his depression.
Most of them are recorded by the "L. Perosi Ensemble", around 2000, and can be found at Youtube. For instance:






Also see my post of today about Perosi at Composers Guestbooks. He was a great and surprisingly versatile composer.


----------

