GMG's Favo(u)rite String Quartets Poll

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

In order I will probably say

Ferneyhough 6
Ferneyhough 'Dum Transisset'
Ferneyhough 3
Turgut Eçertin 1
Czernowin 'String Quartet'
Nishimura 2
Cassidy 2
Coates 7
Manoury 'Stringendo'
Ligeti 2

If I had more than 10 I would have fit in some Hosokawa, Schumann, Dillon, more Ferneyhough (obviously), Carter, Bartok, Mendelssohn, Xenakis, Feldman, Ginastera, Mozart, Johnston and Beethoven........but alas, I was only allowed to mention my top 10 ranked in order.

[Mirror Image]

In no particular order:

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G major
Ravel: String Quartet
Janáček: String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
Schnittke: String Quartet No. 2
Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2
Berg: Lyric Suite
Kurtág: Officium breve in memoriam Andreæ
Vasks: String Quartet No. 2
Langgaard: Rosengaardsspil (Rose Garden Play)

Edit: I made two alterations to my list. The first, I exchanged Kurtág for Britten. I'm not really all that impressed with Britten's SQs nowadays. The second, I exchanged Langgaard for Silvestrov. Now, I'm quite pleased with my list.

[kyjo]

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G major

Interesting choice - will have to revisit this one. I'm not as familiar with the lesser-played Shostakovich quartets as I should be.

[Mirror Image]

Interesting choice - will have to revisit this one. I'm not as familiar with the lesser-played Shostakovich quartets as I should be.

As I was doing a bit of a Shostakovich SQ marathon a month ago --- the SQ6 really stood out to me, but, let me be clear, the man didn't compose a bad SQ IMHO.

[North Star]

Janáček No. 2 Intimate Letters
Ravel
Beethoven Op. 131
Schubert No. 15 in G major, D. 887
Bartók No. 4
Dutilleux Ainsi la nuit
Kurtág: Officium breve in memoriam Andreæ Szervánszky, Op. 28
Shostakovich No. 15
Britten No. 2
Haydn String Quartet No. 61 in D minor 'Quinten', Op. 76/II

[Mahlerian]

Ranked from top to bottom...

1. Beethoven Quartet No. 14 in C# minor Op. 131
2. Mozart Quartet K465 in C major
3. Schoenberg String Quartet No. 4
4. Haydn String Quartet in B minor Op. 33/1
5. Debussy String Quartet
6. Webern Five Movements Op. 5
7. Takemitsu Landscape
8. Carter String Quartet No. 2
9. Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major Op. 130 (with original finale)
10. Schoenberg String Quartet No. 2 in F# minor Op. 10

My argument for combining Grosse Fuge with the rest of Op. 130 is that it was composed as a single work, to be performed together in one sitting, and it is integrated motivically with the rest of the quartet.

[Jay F]

All ten of mine are by DSCH. I have a hard time individuating them, as I initially bought them as two box sets (Emerson, Fitzwilliam) and have listened to them exclusively on my computer or over a wireless speaker. I have no physical contact with the medium that brings me my music any longer and, that being the case, I think of them as a single, extremely large work, the entirety of which I love and can listen to for days on end. So I'm going to pick ten not quite at random, but declare a ten-way tie for first place, which would give each work 5.5 points if my math is correct.

15 definitely makes the list, as do 4, 5, 6, and 8. I also cannot live without 3, nor "Two Movements for a String Quartet." And 11, 12, and 13. I love the rest, but ten's the limit. I also like Beethoven's and Schubert's SQs, and Bartok's, but I like a lot of their other music, and I do not like anything by Shostakovich as much as I like his string quartets. These are definitely my favorite string quartets.

[Mirror Image]

Ranked from top to bottom...

1. Beethoven Quartet No. 14 in C# minor Op. 131
2. Mozart Quartet K465 in C major
3. Schoenberg String Quartet No. 4
4. Haydn String Quartet in B minor Op. 33/1
5. Debussy String Quartet
6. Webern Five Movements Op. 5
7. Takemitsu Landscape
8. Carter String Quartet No. 2
9. Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major Op. 130 (with original finale)
10. Schoenberg String Quartet No. 2 in F# minor Op. 10

My argument for combining Grosse Fuge with the rest of Op. 130 is that it was composed as a single work, to be performed together in one sitting, and it is integrated motivically with the rest of the quartet.

Great list. Could have easily added the Schoenberg SQ4, the Webern, or the Takemitsu.

[vandermolen]

Don't listen to that many SQs but here goes (not in order):

Bloch No.1: (an epic work)
Vaughan Williams No.2 'For Jean on her Birthday'
Miaskovsky: No.13
Shostakovich No.15
Debussy
Ravel
Sibelius
Borodin (the famous one  )
Vaughan Williams: No.1
Alf Hurum.

[Mr Bloom]

1. Szymanowski 2
2. Weinberg 6
3. Hindemith 5
4. Toch 11
5. Bartok 3
6. Maxwell Davies Naxos quartet 7
7. Krauze 2
8. Dean 2
9. Kagel 3
10. Schafer 7

[TheGSMoeller]

1. Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
2. Haydn: Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2
3. Schubert: Quartet No. 15 in G major, D. 887
4. Janacek: Quartet No. 1, Kreutzer Sonata
5. Dvorak: Quartet in F major, Op. 96, American
6. Schubert: Quartet No. 14 in D minor, Death and the Maiden
7. Reich: Different Trains
8. Ives: Quartet No. 2
9. Gorecki: Quasi una Fantasia: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 6
10. Britten: Quartet No. 3

[Turbot nouveaux]

My 10 current favourites. The ranking order is a bit arbitrary - these things change.

1. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major Op. 130 (I agree - with original finale, Op. 133)
2. Kurtág: 6 Moments musicaux, Op. 44
3. Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
4. Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91
5. Haydn: String Quartet No. 30, Opus 33 No. 2 in E-flat major, "The Joke", Hob. III:38
6. Walton: String Quartet (No. 2) in A minor
7. Webern: Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5
8. Hindemith: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22
9. Berg: Lyric Suite
10. Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2 in F# minor, Op. 10

[schnittkease]

---

Top Ten.

1. Bartók: String Quartet #4, Sz. 91 - 54.4
2. Beethoven: String Quartet #14 in C-sharp minor, op. 131 - 46.3
3. Schubert: String Quartet #15 in G, D. 887 - 44.8
4. Janáček: String Quartet #2 "Intimate Letters" - 38.5
5. Beethoven: String Quartet #13 in B-flat, op. 130 - 34.7
6. Beethoven: String Quartet #15 in A minor, op. 132 - 31.9
7. Ravel: String Quartet in F - 30.6
8. Bartók: String Quartet #3, Sz. 85 - 23.6
9. Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, L 85 - 21.3
10. Dvořák: String Quartet #13 in G, op. 106 - 16.8

[kyjo]

Okay, time to update my list. In no particular order, other than the Dvorak and Schubert which are undoubtedly at the top for me:

Dvorak no. 13
Schubert no. 15
Prokofiev no. 2
Nielsen no. 1
Britten no. 2
Mendelssohn no. 2
Beethoven no. 15
Kabalevsky no. 1
Bruch no. 2
Grieg

Obviously, it was very difficult for me to leave out Ravel, Hindemith, Janacek, Smetana, RVW, Borodin, Ginastera, Stenhammar, Sibelius, etc etc...

[gprengel]

For me it is:
- Mozart K 421, 464, 465, 499
- Beethoven: op.59,1 + 2
                   op. 74
                   op. 127 - 135
- Schubert:   d-minor (Death of a Maiden)+ G
- Mendelssohn: in a- and f-minor  (I am very astonished that his last in f- has been mentioned only once - For me the best quartet of the Romantic era!! I love it so much that I even orchestrated it )
- Dvorak: op. 96 and 106

[Symphonic Addict]

I wanted to go with 15 as this is my favorite chamber form:

Janacek 2
Beethoven 7
Dvorak 13
Ravel
Mendelssohn 6
Schnittke 2
Stenhammar 5
Honegger 2
Dohnányi 3
Schubert 13
Bartók 5
Walton 2
Shostakovich 15
Ginastera 2
Mathias 2

[vandermolen]

I should have included the lyrical and approachable one by Klaus Egge.

[Mirror Image]

In no particular order:

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 6 in G major
Ravel: String Quartet
Janáček: String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
Schnittke: String Quartet No. 2
Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2
Berg: Lyric Suite
Kurtág: Officium breve in memoriam Andreæ
Vasks: String Quartet No. 2
Langgaard: Rosengaardsspil (Rose Garden Play)

Looking back on this list and I say that I'm rather content with it, although I might give a special nod to Schulhoff's two SQs as these were both works I discovered since making this list that have impressed me.

[Mandryka]

In order I will probably say

Ferneyhough 6
Ferneyhough 'Dum Transisset'
Ferneyhough 3
Turgut Eçertin 1
Czernowin 'String Quartet'
Nishimura 2
Cassidy 2
Coates 7
Manoury 'Stringendo'
Ligeti 2

If I had more than 10 I would have fit in some Hosokawa, Schumann, Dillon, more Ferneyhough (obviously), Carter, Bartok, Mendelssohn, Xenakis, Feldman, Ginastera, Mozart, Johnston and Beethoven........but alas, I was only allowed to mention my top 10 ranked in order.

Just discovered Turgut Eçertin thanks to this post.

[Crudblud]

I'm guessing the actual poll is long over, so I'm posting an unordered list and as usual trying to keep it to one selection per composer.

Webern Op. 28
Haydn Op. 54 No. 1
Beethoven No. 13 (original version)
Schoenberg No. 4
Crawford Seeger
Ravel
Nancarrow No. 1
Carter No. 2
Bartók 4
Zappa "None of the Above"