Beethoven's string trios, now infrequently performed, were all written before 1798; when he began composing string quartets shortly afterward, he never revisited the string-trio genre.
When composing string quartets, Robert Schumann felt it was important to "avoid symphonic furor and aim rather for a conversational tone in which everyone has something to say".
Think of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the so-called Black Mozart, who composed string quartets, symphonies and concertos in the late-18th century, and who influenced Mozart in Paris – Wolfgang pilfered one of Saint-George's ideas in his Sinfonia Concertante K364, as Chi-chi Nwanoku's recent Radio 4 documentary revealed.
He also continued to compose magnificent string quartets, notably the six Erdödy quartets known as Opus 76.
In addition to composing operas for the court, Haydn composed symphonies, string quartets, and other chamber music.
He ended up as an English prisoner of war, and composed two string quartets in camp.
A visiting professor of music at Oxford University and at Imperial College London, he has composed four string quartets, three operas and choral and orchestral works, including his Passion and Resurrection, the subject of a BBC television film.
Quincy Porter (1897 1966) composed 10 string quartets, several quintets for various combinations, and smaller works; they are characterized by warm expressiveness achieved in textures that employ considerable repetition of short motives.
Leon Kirchner has composed two string quartets, a violin sonata, and a piano trio; unmetrical rhythm is a striking characteristic of his style, along with a variety of harmonies ranging from purely diatonic to atonal, and warm expressiveness is usually present.
Beethoven composed his string quartet, Opus 132 in A minor, in the winter of 1824-52.
Matt Mehlan recently composed a string quartet on a commission from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
