14 - The string quartet in the twentieth century

Summary

Although the string quartet did not regain the privileged position it enjoyed during the Classical period, many twentieth-century composers from many different cultural backgrounds and stylistic positions looked to the genre as a context suitable for their most intimate thoughts. Throughout the century the string quartet was often viewed not only as a medium conducive to experimentation and formal innovation, but also for its positive re-engagement with tradition; this double focus was symptomatic of the multifarious nature of modernism, an ‘ism’ which encapsulated the defining aesthetic trends of the early decades of the century. This sense of experimentation and innovation often led to an expansion of playing techniques, an increase in the expressive parameters of the music and departures from the standard four-movement pattern of the Classical quartet. However, despite its use as a vehicle for change, the string quartet continued to provide a generic framework which reflected the inherited traditions and conventions as accumulated through the history and stylistic developments of the genre, even if in some cases it was only to construct a point for new departure. This relationship between tradition and innovation, a relationship which was at times oppositional, at others interactive, will come to be seen as a defining reference point for a generalised understanding of the string quartet repertory of the twentieth century. It will become pertinent through regional/national surveys of some of the main composers and works in the medium. Such surveys are not necessarily intended always to suggest national style groupings; rather they are used merely as a convenient and accessible format through which the principal works can be presented.