During my research I became familiar with several composers being important for the development of the string quartet but whom I did not know before, such as F. X. Richter or M. G. Monn, and I gained a clearer understanding of what a string quartet actually is. I also learned about different early types of string quartets, such as divertimenti or quatuors dialogues.While searching for the earliest divertimenti I learned a lot about the mentality behind these pieces. I discovered how modern Richter’s quartets are for their time. Regarding the basso continuo practice in early Classical music, I found that in some regions of Europe it was still common until the end of the 18th century to perform chamber music with harpsichord or fortepiano, although the new taste was to play it with strings only. Publishers sometimes printed music with thoroughbass figures because they assumed it would sell more copies, but composers such as Monn, Richter, or Haydn probably did not intend a basso continuo and therefore did not indicate figures in their scores. I am still trying to find manuscripts and hope to obtain a scan of this source in the near future.I've chosen the exposition because my topics are not well researched yet and I didn't know how much information I could gather - also I am a more presenting then a writing person. In my presentation I would like to show score examples and have a live string quartet ensemble there to play. keywords: string quartet, string quartets, Basso Continuo, Joseph Hayden, Franz Xaver Richter, Georg Matthias Monn
Elias Tulchynsky (Tue,) studied this question.