String quartet String quartet A string quartet is a musical ensemble consisting of four string players – two violin players, a viola player and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group. The string quartet is one of the most prominent chamber ensembles in classical music, with most major composers, from the mid 18th century onwards, writing string quartets. The string quartet was developed into its current form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, with his works in the 1750s establishing the genre. Ever since Haydn's day the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form
String Quartet No. 2 (Glass) String Quartet No. 2 (Glass) String Quartet No. 2, also known by its other title Company, is a string quartet by American composer Philip Glass. This composition was finished in January 1983 in New York City, and was expected to be a piece of instrumental music for Fred Neumann's adaptation of Samuel Beckett's 1979 novella with the same name. After withdrawing his first sketch of a string quartet in 1963, Philip Glass composed his "String Quartet No. 2" seventeen years after his first quartet, even though it was not initially conceived as chamber music, but for theater. This work was