Greatest Romantic String Quartets?

[bwv 1080]

Schumann's A minor quartet is the greatest (in my infallible opinion)

Reger's 3rd is excellent

Tchaikovsky I am warming up to. The 1st is the one I know

Schubert is classical for the purposes of this thread so he doesn't count

Brahms' quartets are among his weakest pieces - the worst examples of his penchant for academic formalism

[springrite]

For me, it is Janacek!

[Keemun]

Tchaikovsky I am warming up to. The 1st is the one I know

His 2nd and 3rd are quite good as well.

[BachQ]

Bartholdy

[ChamberNut]

Schumann's A minor quartet is the greatest (in my infallible opinion)

Reger's 3rd is excellent

Tchaikovsky I am warming up to. The 1st is the one I know

Schubert is classical for the purposes of this thread so he doesn't count

Brahms' quartets are among his weakest pieces - the worst examples of his penchant for academic formalism

Love Schumann's A minor and A major quartets!

Brahms string quartets took some time for me to warm up to.  However, I don't agree that these are among his weakest pieces.  The C minor quartet in particular is one of my favorite Brahms' chamber works. 

Lots of great Romantic French, Russian and Czech string quartets!   

[The new erato]

Depends upon where one draws the line I suppose:

Mendelssohns op 12,13, 80
Borodin and Tchaikovskys best quartets are very good
d'Indys 3rd
The later Dvorak quartets.
Faure

I'm nost sure Janacek, Reger, Ravel etc falls within the definition

[Brian]

Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Borodin 

For later in the era, Ravel, Debussy, Suk; for early romanticism, Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda's quartets are a truly incredible find (one has an all-pizzicato scherzo, in case you thought Tchaikovsky was the first person to have that idea...).

[Keemun]

Nothing new on my list: Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and Borodin.  I've only heard Dvorak's "American" quartet, so I will not yet add him to my list. 

[hornteacher]

Dvorak, baby!

[Monsieur Croche]

If you are talking about the greatest string quartet cycle, then it would be Dvorak, definitely.

I am rather fond of Faure's String Quartet in E Minor myself. Any fellow admirers of this work here?

[The new erato]

I am rather fond of Faure's String Quartet in E Minor myself. Any fellow admirers of this work here?

Depends upon where one draws the line I suppose:

Mendelssohns op 12,13, 80
Borodin and Tchaikovskys best quartets are very good
d'Indys 3rd
The later Dvorak quartets.
Faure

[val]

My preferred string Quartets, between Schubert and Debussy:

Brahms / Quartet opus 67

Dvorak / Quartet opus 106

Smetana / First Quartet

Borodin / 2nd Quartet

Tchaikovsky / 3rd Quartet

The 3rd Quartet of Tchaikovsky is an extraordinary work, one of the greatest Quartets composed after Beethoven. It is a pity that it is not as famous as the first quartet.

[quintett op.57]

For me, it is Janacek!

why not Smetana, they're 2 masterpieces
Early Zemlinsky and Schönberg are great

[Lethevich]

A few very nifty ones not yet mentioned: Elgar, Grieg (G minor), Franck.

[Monsieur Croche]

A few very nifty ones not yet mentioned: Elgar, Grieg (G minor), Franck.

Yes, how could I forget good old Franck! Another favorite string quartet of mine, for sure!

[Brian]

A few very nifty ones not yet mentioned: Elgar, Grieg (G minor), Franck.

Just got back from Barnes & Noble. They had a big sign that said GREIG. 

[The new erato]

Just got back from Barnes & Noble. They had a big sign that said GREIG. 

AFAIK the family originally were Scotch and called Greig. After their settlement in Norway they became Grieg...........

[snyprrr]

may i?

i've been struggling with the word "romantic." to me it means symphonie fantastique...the philosophy.

to me, the qrts, that sound closest to the "idea" of romanticism are beethoven's late Aminor and C#minor quartets...

and honestly, the one qrt that for me picks up where those left off are the schoenberg no1 op7. ...gargantua, haha.

busoni no2?
berg's op3?
bloch's no1?
bartok's 1-2?

but my question is....can i make a distinction between haydn mozart/classical, and beethoven/romantic?

if so, most of the qrts mentioned....borodin, smetana, dvorak...seem to me to fall into the 4 mvmt classical mold (including the impressionistic works of debussy, ravel), whereas something such as the berg op3 plays with FORM. bartok too.

so into these new 2, 5, 6, 7, and more movement qrts, new emotions can be poured...that is why schoenberg's two serial qrts. in four mvmts are not romantic because the follow the mozartean model (even schoenberg himself said this), whereas schoenberg's string trio's fluid three mvmts stream more like stream of consciousness emotion and fantasy.

anyone? bueller......anyone?

[The new erato]

Well I was going tp say Schubert last quartet was the greatest and will argue with you about that not being romantic (even though I agree about major parts of Schuberts oeuvre being classical). On the other side of the timescale one has similar definiton problems. Zemlinskis second eg. Mendelssohns op 80 may be a good candidate within the definite definitions of romanticism.

[snyprrr]

of course, zemlinsky no.2, which of course implies the whole second viennese school.

it seems to me ROMANTIC implies "GERMANIC"

i mean, look at debussy and ravel...didn't there go from human emotions to nature. and is not their music duly more "smooth"?

i think, ultimately, for me, romantic implies the creation of the one-movement work.

schoenberg no. 1
zemlinsky no.2
berg op. 3
schnabel no.3

i think the word we are looking for is ANGST!!!! if the music is constipated, it is romantic....jus kiddding,haha
but seriously...

ANY MORE ONE-MOVEMENT QUARTETS?