Your 15 favorite string quartets of all time

[Symphonic Addict]

Oddly enough there is no thread about this topic, one that gathers together favorite string quartets from any epoch. Given the huge amount of these works, I think 15 is a reasonable number to make you think and select (wisely).

Mine are in any order of preference:

Janacek: String Quartet No. 2 'Intimate Letters'
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7
Dvorak: String Quartet No. 13
Saint-Saens: String Quartet No. 1
Nielsen: String Quartet No. 3

Britten: String Quartet No. 2
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
Hindemith: String Quartet No. 2
Taneyev: String Quartet No. 4
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6

Arnold: String Quartet No. 2
Ravel: String Quartet
Bartok: String Quartet No. 5
Martinu: String Quartet No. 5
Schubert: String Quartet No. 15

I'm aware that this sort of threads are less and less visited and/or popular, so I'm not expecting many replies (unless you prove me wrong). 

[hopefullytrusting]

My 15 will be in alphabetical order:

Beethoven 13 (unabridged)
Chausson
Johnston 1-10
Schubert 14
Smetana 1

[AnotherSpin]

I do not keep a numbered list, but I regard the quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn and Dvořák as the most compelling.

In twentieth-century music, I return most often to the quartets of Ravel and Debussy. The quartets of Shostakovich and Bartók are, of course, of great importance, yet I cannot bring myself to listen to them.

And yes, I am aware that Debussy's quartet technically belongs to the nineteenth century.

[springrite]

Just off the top of my head:

Beethoven: Op.18, #6
Beethoven: Op. 59/1
Beethoven: Op. 95
Beethoven: Op. 127
Beethoven: Op. 131
Bartok #4
Bartok #6
Carter #1
Carter #2
Janacek #2
Shostakovich #7
Schubert Death and the Maiden
...
Fill the rest with Haydn

[foxandpeng]

My 15 will be in alphabetical order:

Beethoven 13 (unabridged)
Chausson
Johnston 1-10
Schubert 14
Smetana 1

This is a great thread which will require some thought before making a response!

I am assuming that Johnston is Ben Johnston? I have saved them as a playlist, but have never explored them...

[hopefullytrusting]

This is a great thread which will require some thought before making a response!

I am assuming that Johnston is Ben Johnston? I have saved them as a playlist, but have never explored them...

Yes, you are correct - Ben Johnston. I like how angular and sharp they are. I like how much thought he put into them. Most classical music ends tonically - not so with Johnston (just a little spoiler, or it ends with a twisted tonic, either way - it is good training for the ears).

[brewski]

I'm also going to have to ponder this! @Symphonic Addict gracefully spread the love around to 15 different composers, which I may not be able to do. 

In any case, great choices already, and nice to see Ben Johnston cited, who is off the radar for many listeners.

[Jo498]

Haydn: op.76/5
Mozart: KV 387
Beethoven: op59/1, op.127, 130/133, 131, 132, 135
Schubert: D 887
Schumann op.41/1 a minor
Dvorak: G major op.106
Janacek: quartet No 2
Bartok: quartet No. 4
Berg: Lyrische Suite
Shostakovich: No. 5

[Brian]

Hmmmm...
...roughly chronologically...

Haydn Op. 33 Nos 2 and 5 / Op. 76 Nos. 4 and 5
Beethoven Op. 18 No. 6 / Op. 59 No. 3 / Op. 74
Mendelssohn No. 6
Kalliwoda No. 3
Borodin No. 2
Dvorak Nos. 10 and 13
Debussy
Janacek No. 1
Stenhammar No. 5

honorable mentions to Prokofiev (No. 2), Smetana (both), Janacek (No. 2), Shostakovich (No. 8 ), and Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, and Martinu (almost all of em)

[San Antone]

In alphabetical order:

Alexandra du Bois: Oculus pro oculo totum orbem terrae caecat
Bartok: No. 4
Beethoven: Op. 131
Berg: Lyric Suite
Boulez: Livre pour Quatuor
Carter: No. 3
Debussy: Op. 10
Haydn: Seven Last Words
Meyer, K.: No. 5
Schoenberg: No. 2
Schubert: No. 13
Schubert: No. 14
Shostakovich: No. 9
Webern: Op. 28
Weinberg: No. 13

[Florestan]

This is a great thread which will require some thought before making a response!

Absolutely!

At first sight, five each of Haydn, Mozart and Schubert would do the trick for me. 

Only one per composer, that's a lot harder...   

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm also going to have to ponder this! @Symphonic Addict gracefully spread the love around to 15 different composers, which I may not be able to do. 

In any case, great choices already, and nice to see Ben Johnston cited, who is off the radar for many listeners.

You are free to mention quartets whether they are by the same composer or not, and the overall number is also up to you.

[George]

You are free to mention quartets whether they are by the same composer or not, and the overall number is also up to you.

In that case, I will list my favorites, by composer, as when I listen to string quartets, I listen to them as a group.

Beethoven
Shostakovitch
Ligeti
Schoenberg
Haydn
Mozart

[Symphonic Addict]

In that case, I will list my favorites, by composer, as when I listen to string quartets, I listen to them as a group.

Beethoven
Shostakovitch
Ligeti
Schoenberg
Haydn
Mozart

Nice! I remember being blown away by both of Ligeti.

[Mandryka]

Hard for me to come up with 15 - though there are lots and lots of quartets which are pleasant enough, to be a "favourite of all time" it needs to be intellectually and emotionally stimulating, inexhaustible.

Ferneyhough 1 and 6
Beethoven 14 and 13
Reger op 74
Maxwell Davies 7
Scelsi 2 and 4
Kagel 1
Schubert 15

I can't think of any more.

[Symphonic Addict]

Alexandra du Bois: Oculus pro oculo totum orbem terrae caecat

I hope the music lives up to that eye-catching title!

[San Antone]

I hope the music lives up to that eye-catching title!

It does, at least IMO.  You can listen here:

When I heard it, it immediately struck a chord with me, and I can truly say it is one of my favorite string quartets.  She's gone on to write five more, I think, and is among the better young composers working today.

[Madiel]

Oh gosh.

I would love to spend time working out my answer, but sampling to be sure could send me down a massive rabbit hole. Massive.

I mean, I loaded up and shuffled all the Haydn ones as background music for my big birthday party because they're all so good.

Choosing around 15 will be tricky. And that's when really I don't have all that many composers of quartets in my collection. It's just that most of the ones I do have are great. And I have an unopened Grieg/Sibelius CD sitting next to the player too...

I'll be back. Maybe.

[Florestan]

I loaded up and shuffled all the Haydn ones as background music for my big birthday party because they're all so good.

And the reaction of your guests was...   

[George]

And the reaction of your guests was...   

Must have been a Surprise party.