The string quartet is perhaps my favorite genre. I enjoy it from its very beginnings with Haydn to all the wild permutations that it has seen over the centuries to its latest varieties. Recently, I went through my collection and tried to rank my favorites. While all such lists are arbitrary -- and change with changing moods -- this gives a rough view of my preferences:
1. Beethoven: String Quartet #15 in A minor, op. 132 (1825)
2. Beethoven: String Quartet #14 in C-sharp minor, op. 131 (1826)
3. Ravel: String Quartet in F major (1903)
4. Bartók: String Quartet #5, Sz 102 (1934)
5. Schubert: String Quartet #14 in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”) (1824)
6. Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, op. 10 (1893)
7. Schubert: String Quartet #15 in G, D.887 (1826)
8. Haydn: String Quartet in C major, op. 20/2, Hob. III:32 (1772)
9. Dvořák: String Quartet #12 in F major (“American”), op. 96 (1893)
10. Bartók: String Quartet #4, Sz 91 (1928)
11. Mozart: String Quartet #19 in C major, K.465 (“Dissonance”)
12. Beethoven: String Quartet #10, op. 74 (“Harp”) (1809)
13. Shostakovich: String Quartet #2 in A, op. 68 (1944)
14. Haydn: String Quartet in D major, op. 20/4, Hob. III:34 (1772)
15. Shostakovich: String Quartet #8 in C minor, op. 110 (1960)
16. Beethoven: String Quartet #13 in B-flat, op. 130 with Grosse Fuge (op. 133) (1825-26)
17. Haydn: String Quartet in D minor, op. 76/2 (“Quinten”), Hob. III:76 (1797)
18. Beethoven: String Quartet #7 in F major, op. 59/1 (“1st Rasumovsky”) (1806)
19. Rochberg: String Quartet #3 (1972)
20. Mozart: String Quartet #15 in D minor, K.421 (1783)
21. Bartok: String Quartet #2 (1915-1917)
22. Fauré: String Quartet in E minor, op. 121 (1924)
23. Janáček: String Quartet #2 (“Intimate Letters”) (1928)
24. Prokofiev: String Quartet #2, op. 92 (“On Karbardian Themes”) (1941)
25. Ligeti: String Quartet #1 (“Metamorphoses Nocturnes”) (1954)
26. Shostakovich: String Quartet #4 in D, op. 83 (1949)
27. Haydn: String Quartet #32 in C (“Bird”), op. 33/3, Hob. III:39 (1781)
28. Mozart: String Quartet #18 in A major, K.464 (1785)
29. Brahms: String Quartet #1 in C minor, op. 51/1 (1865-73)
30. Shostakovich: String Quartet #12 in D, op. 133 (1968)
31. Penderecki: String Quartet #3 (“Leaves of an Unwritten Diary”) (2008)
32. Haydn: String Quartet #63 in B flat major, op. 76/4, Hob. III: 78 (“Sunrise”) (1797)
33. Mendelssohn: String Quartet #6, op. 80 (1847)
34. Szymanowski: String Quartet #2, op. 56 (1927)
35. Haydn: String Quartet in D major, op. 64/5, Hob. III:63 (“Lark”) (1790)
36. Schumann: String Quartet #3 in A, op. 41/3 (1842)
37. Dvořák: String Quartet #13 in G major, op. 106 (1895)
38. Beethoven: String Quartet #12 in E flat, op. 127 (1823-25)
39. Haydn: String Quartet in C major, op. 76/3, Hob. III:77 (“Emperor”) (1797)
40. Higdon: Impressions (2003)
41. Martinů: String Quartet #5 (1938)
42. Schnittke: String Quartet #3 (1983)
43. Schubert: String Quartet #13 (“Rosamunde”) (1824)
44. Mozart: String Quartet #21 in D major, K.575 (“1st Prussian”) (1789)
45. Adams: John’s Book of Alleged Dances (1994)
46. Dutilleux: Ainsi la nuit (1975-1976)
47. Smetana: String Quartet #1 in E minor (“From my life”) (1876)
48. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, op. 83 (1918)
49. Gorecki: String Quartet #2, op. 64 (“Quasi una fantasia”) (1990-1991)
50. Wolosoff: Songs Without Words (2010)
I'm sure these will be altered in the near future as I am working to fill in various big gaps in my collection (e.g. Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, Bonnal, Ropartz, Miaskovsky)
What are others' favorites?