Some Psychological Processes in String Quartets

The music of the emergent Classical era, with its gradual repudiation of the baroque functions of the continuo, its development of instrumental technique and its widening social appeal, saw the emergence of an ever-increasing variety of instrumental combinations. Of these, the string quartet attracted among major composers an unrivalled popularity which was maintained throughout the Romantic era and has continued unabated amidst the dissolution of tonality up to the present day. Other musical ensembles have survived over this period, but none without some alteration of its instrumentation; the basic structure of two violins, a viola and a 'cello has, however, remained unchanged since its emergence in the middle of the eighteenth century.