String quartets

A moment ago, there was Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet № 4 in D major, Op. 83 (the Emerson String Quartet) in “Composer of the Week” with Donald McLeod.

So far this year, I have enjoyed listening to four Shostakovich quartets on BBC Radio 3, namely the above and the following three:

• String Quartet № 2 in A major, Op. 68
• String Quartet № 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108
• String Quartet № 8 in C minor, Op. 110

I love collecting such works for my listening enjoyment. And I have ample time to do this now that I no longer have to profess Sartrean bad faith.

Indeed, I love the string quartet so much that I have trying to compose one of my own: a String Quartet in D-sharp minor! And, instead of the usual ensemble of two violins, viola & cello, my experimental work is for violin, viola, cello & double bass (like in Schubert’s “Trout” quintet).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet № 19 in C major, KV 465 (the Quatuor Ébène) in “Through the Night” with Jonathan Swain.

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet № 4 in C minor, op. 18 № 4 (the Pavel Haas Quartet) in “Through the Night” with John Shea.

Dvořák: String Quartet № 14 in A-flat major, op. 105 (the Pavel Haas Quartet) in “Lunchtime Concert” with Tom McKinney.

Franz Schubert: String Quartet № 13 in A minor, D. 804 (the Sebastian String Quartet) in “Through the Night” with Catriona Young.