Quartet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In music, a quartet (French: quatuor, German: Quartett, Italian: quartetto, Spanish: cuarteto, Polish: kwartet) is an ensemble of four singers.[1][2]

Classical

String quartet

A string quartet in performance. From left to right - violin 1, violin 2, cello, viola

In

alto, tenor and bass (SATB
). In the string quartet, two violins play the soprano and alto vocal registers, the viola plays the tenor register and the cello plays the bass register.

Composers of notable string quartets include Joseph Haydn (68 compositions), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (23), Ludwig van Beethoven (16), Franz Schubert (15), Felix Mendelssohn (6), Johannes Brahms (3), Antonín Dvořák (14), Alexander Borodin (2), Béla Bartók (6), Elizabeth Maconchy (13), Darius Milhaud (18), Heitor Villa-Lobos (17), and Dmitri Shostakovich (15).[3] The Italian composer Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805), wrote 91 string quartets.

Less often, string quartets are written for other combinations of the standard string ensemble. These include quartets for one violin, two violas, and one cello, notably by Carl Stamitz (6 compositions) and others; and for one violin, one viola, and two cellos, by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and others.

Piano quartet

Another common standard classical quartet is the

Romantic composers Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn each wrote three important compositions in this form, and Mozart, Dvořák, and Gabriel Fauré each wrote two.[3] Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time substitutes clarinet
for viola.

Other instrumental quartets

Wind quartets are scored either the same as a string quartet with the wind instrument replacing the first violin (i.e. scored for wind, violin, viola and cello) or are groups of four wind instruments. Among the latter, the SATB format woodwind quartet of flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon is relatively common.

An example of a wind quartet featuring four of the same types of wind instruments is the saxophone quartet, consisting of soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and baritone saxophone. Often a second alto may be substituted for the soprano part or a bass saxophone may be substituted for the baritone.[citation needed]

Vocal quartet

Compositions for four singers have been written for quartets

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem
are two examples of renowned concert works that include vocal quartets.

Typically, a vocal quartet is composed of:

Baroque quartet

The baroque quartet is a form of music composition similar to the trio sonata, but with four music parts performed by three solo melodic instruments and basso continuo. The solo instruments could be strings or wind instruments.

Examples of baroque quartets are Georg Philipp Telemann's Paris quartets.

Jazz

Quartets are popular in jazz and jazz fusion music. Jazz quartet ensembles are often composed of a horn, classically clarinet (or saxophone, trumpet, etc.), a chordal instrument (e.g., electric guitar, piano, Hammond organ, vibraphone, etc.), a bass instrument (e.g., double bass, tuba or bass guitar) and a drum kit. This configuration is sometimes modified by using a second horn replacing the chordal instrument, such as a trumpet and saxophone with string bass and drum kit, or by using two chordal instruments (e.g., piano and electric guitar).

Popular music

Rock and pop

The quartet lineup is also very common in pop and rock music. A standard quartet formation in pop and rock music is an ensemble typically consisting of a vocalist, an electric guitar, a bass guitar, and a drum kit. This configuration is sometimes modified so that the vocalist also plays guitar, or sometimes a keyboard instrument (e.g., organ, piano, synthesizer) or soloing instrument (e.g., saxophone) may be used.[citation needed]

Vocal quartet

In the 20th century Western

barbershop quartets and Gospel quartets
.

Some well-known female US vocal quartets include

The Mills Brothers. The only known U.S. drag quartet is The Kinsey Sicks. Some mixed-gender vocal quartets include ABBA, The Pied Pipers; The Mamas & the Papas; The Merry Macs; and The Weavers
.

Folk music

Russian

Style Quartet from Saint Petersburg:
 • Alexander Smertin, artistic director, bayan,
 • Alexander Barbolin, Prima Balalaika,
 • Alexey Busin, Viola Balalaika,
 • Evgeny Redkin, Contrabass Balalaika.

A Russian folk-instrument quartet commonly consists of a bayan, a prima balalaika, a prima or alto domra, and a contrabass balalaika (e.g., Quartet Moskovskaya Balalaika). Configurations without a bayan include a prima domra, a prima balalaika, an alto domra, and a bass balalaika (Quartet Skaz); or two prima domras, a prima balalaika, and a bass balalaika.

References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster. "Quartet". Merriam-Webster, Inc., div. of Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  2. ^ Random House Dictionary. "Quartet". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  3. ^ .

Further reading