From tentative beginnings, the string quartet has evolved for over 240 years, serving as a medium for some of the most profound and personal musical expression. At first it was a medium that allowed four gentlemen amateurs to converse musically, an aspect of its function that has retained its significance throughout the years. But this aspect has long been interconnected with a view of the genre as one that is appropriate for music of the deepest personal expression, as well as sophisticated humour and wit.
Sir George Dyson once remarked that probably the most ideal situation in which a musician can find himself is to be of equal gifts in a gifted string quartet. Sir Yehudi Menuhin, too, was of little doubt that string quartet playing constitutes the highest form of music making. ‘The quality of listening, the quality of “teamwork”, of adjusting to one another, of recognising the main voice wherever it may be, of reconciling the different accents and inflections, and the purity of the intonation’, he claimed, ‘is unequalled by any other ensemble, except perhaps human voices themselves.’1 Certainly, some of the most musically rewarding periods of my life have been spent playing string quartets (whether as a professional violinist, as a student or in domestic music making), listening to them either as a critic or a devotee and writing about the medium which Edwin Evans described as ‘the most perfect, concise, and self-contained combination in all music’.2
The principal aim of this volume is to provide a broad readership with a compact, authoritative survey of the string quartet in all its aspects. In so doing, it focuses on selected topics in the kind of depth that will interest and enlighten a more specialist student and scholarly audience. The carefully structured series of essays concentrates on four main areas: the social and cultural contexts which influenced developments in the string quartet, both as a genre and as a family of instruments; the most distinguished ensembles and their personnel, careers and significance; string quartet playing, including an inside view of the musical and interpretative priorities of a professional string quartet as well as perspectives on contemporary and historical performing practice; discussion of the string quartet repertory from its origins in the middle of the eighteenth century to the present, and consideration of ‘mixed ensemble’ works underpinned by the string quartet ensemble.
The task of covering such an extensive corpus of material within the limited space available naturally poses particular challenges for an editor and his contributors. Authors have thus been required to be selective in their essays; for example, the more detailed consideration has largely been reserved for what may be described as the ‘cornerstones’ of the repertory, while less significant works are introduced on a more ad hoc basis and in more general terms. Various works, composers, ensembles and other details have had to be omitted or summarised in what to some might seem to be a perfunctory manner. However, scholars who have devoted their lives to a single aspect of the genre and find that it gets only brief mention here should be reassured that thorough investigation of that aspect was necessary before even that brief mention could be properly contextualised. The writers’ and editor’s judgement on what is important is, of course, open to review, so no claim will be made for this volume as the definitive compendium on the string quartet. It is simply one attempt at making as comprehensive a survey as possible within the confines of this ever-expanding series of Companions. The outcome, I hope, will be considered as an indispensable guide for all serious chamber music lovers, amateur and professional, and one that will enhance our understanding of the performers’ roles and objectives and enrich our experience of listening to quartets in live performance or on recordings.
The initial impetus for this book came from Penny Souster at Cambridge University Press, who envisaged yet another type of volume that might be embraced by the Cambridge Companion series. It would not have been possible for me to assemble a manual of such breadth without the help of a large number of people. Among these I wish especially to record my gratitude to the contributors, all of whom have stuck to their task and produced with varying degrees of promptitude commissioned chapters that fit with my original outline. Some contributors have requested that due acknowledgement be recorded elsewhere for the help and advice given by others in the compilation of their chapters. Thanks are due, too, to my good friend Dr Ian Cheverton for preparing the music examples, to Tully Potter for the loan of a number of rare photographs from his collection, and to Penny Souster, who has given support to this project beyond the call of duty. I am also indebted to my copy-editor, Lucy Carolan, for managing the typescript smoothly and efficiently through the publication process.