Classical Music for String Quartet

The Classical Highlights series presents the best-known and most popular performance pieces of the classical repertoire in arrangements for various instruments - and now for string quartet. Apart from...

Experience one of the most timeless and deeply moving classics in music history: Johann Sebastian Bach's celebrated chorale "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (Jesus bleibet meine Freude) from the cantata...

My love is as a fever wurde von Sonetten William Shakespeares inspiriert. Das Werk entstand für das Faust Quartett mit dem Anspruch, bei neuer Kompositionstechnik, sowohl vom emotionalen Ausdruck als...

Der österreichisch-ungarische Komponist Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) war musikalisch frühreif: Auf Empfehlung Antonín Dvoráks erhielt er Klavierunterricht mit sieben Jahren, wurde mit zehn Jahren Schül...

The composition of Krzysztof Penderecki’s four string quartets is marked by an idiosyncratic interruption: the first two experimental, improvisatory quartets were composed in swift succession in the 1...

When Cuarteto Casals approached me with the idea of illuminating Beethoven's quartets anew, you can imagine the many thoughts and feelings that where going through my mind: what a joy, what a great ho...

Nach der Toccata für Klavier und Streichquintett von 1989, dem Quartett für Oboe, Violine, Viola und Klavier von 2010 und dem Klavierquintett von 2014 hat Olli Mustonen nun seinen ersten Werkbeitrag f...

My quartets composed between 1997 and 2005 were conceived as an interconnected, self-contained cycle of works ranging from the (in my opinion) quasi revolutionary Quartet No. 1 to the Quartet No. 5 en...

My String Quartet No. 7 – the second of my ‘Beethoven studies’ – is the first of my quartets to possess a two-movement structure. The density of texture is additionally enhanced, meaning that the open...

My String Quartet No. 8 is made up of three movements, and a fast tempo prevails almost throughout the entire work. The extreme brevity of the opening movement oscillates between rugged unisono passag...

I consider Beethoven’s String Quartet op. 130 with its Grosse Fuge as the pinnacle of all quartets. In each of the four movements, Beethoven succeeds in re-inventing the archetypal movement forms with...

Immerse yourself in the fascinating sound world of chamber music with the impressive "String Quartet No. 6", published by the renowned Schott Musik. This outstanding work unfolds the full emotional an...

Hindemith's string quartets appear in the present new edition after the text of the complete edition. The 1st String Quartet in C major is Hindemith's first large-scale work and reveals the great tale...

Depth of content, exuberant liveliness and sophistication of the compositional technique – Samuel Rhodes, violist of the renowned Juilliard String Quartet, praises Paul Hindemith's string quartets. Th...

Paul Hindemith made his breakthrough as the leading German composer of his generation at the first 'Donaueschingen Chamber Music Performances' in 1921 with his 3rd String Quartet Op. 16. The premiere...

The String Quartet in G minor Op. 8 dates from the time when Joseph Haas studied with Max Reger (1905). While reflecting the clear influence of his teacher as to form, it also shows the young composer...

The String Quartet in G minor Op. 8 dates from the time when Joseph Haas studied with Max Reger (1905). While reflecting the clear influence of his teacher as to form, it also shows the young composer...

For my first string quartet, I found it important to compose a piece with a light and entertaining character which simultaneously possesses a ‘profound level’ – this dichotomy is what fascinates me in...

The 9th String Quartet forms the penultimate work in my Beethoven Study quartet cycle. Chronologically, however, it was composed after the 10th Quartet Cavatina. And indeed, when composing it, it felt...

The music of small forms was to become the focus of the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924). In 1874, after many years spent in the 'provinces', the teacher of Camille Saint-Saëns took the posit...

The music of small forms was to become the focus of the French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924). In 1874, after many years spent in the 'provinces', the teacher of Camille Saint-Saëns took the posit...

String Quartet No. 2 – Lion’s Teeth by Sebastian Hilli unfolds an expressive world of sound that thrives on contrasts. Inspired by the origin of the word dandelion – dent de lion, the "lion’s tooth" –...