The TC Top 200 Recommended String Quartets List
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1. Schubert: String Quartet No 14 in D minor, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden"
2. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
3. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130 + Op. 133 "Grosse Fuge"
4. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
5. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op.110
6. Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10
7. Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91
8. Mozart: String Quartet No. 19 in C major, KV 465 "Dissonance"
9. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, B. 179 "American"
10. Ravel: String Quartet in F major
11. Haydn: String Quartet No. 61 in D minor, Op. 76 No. 2, Hob.III:76 "Fifths"
12. Schubert: String Quartet No.15 in G major, D. 887
13. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
14. Haydn: String Quartet No. 62 in C, Op. 76 No. 3, Hob.III:77 "Emperor"
15. Berg: Lyric Suite
16. Schubert: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804 "Rosamunde"
17. Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D major
18. Sibelius: String Quartet No. 4 in D minor, Op. 56 "Voces Intimae"
19. Schoenberg: String Quartet No 2, Op. 10
20. Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
21. Haydn: String Quartet No. 63 in B flat, Op. 76/4, Hob.III:78 'Sunrise'
22. Janáček: String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
23. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95
24. Bartók: String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114
25. Bartók: String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102
26. Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2
27. Grieg: String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27
28. Fauré: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121
29. Reich: Different trains
30. Webern: Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5
31. Janáček: String Quartet No.1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
32. Haydn: String Quartet No. 64 in D major, Op. 76/5, Hob.III:79 "Largo"
33. Schubert: String Quartet No.12 in C minor, D. 703 'Quartettsatz'
34. Crumb: Black Angels
35. Bartók: String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Sz. 40
36. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144
37. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 73
38. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, JB 1:105 "From My Life"
39. Shostakovich: String Quartet No 13 in B flat minor, Op. 138
40. Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11
41. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E flat, Op. 127
42. Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B flat, KV 458 "The Hunt"
43. Bartók: String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85
44. Haydn: String Quartet No. 30, Op.33 No. 2 in E-flat major, Hob. III:38 "The Joke"
45. Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51/1
46. Mozart: String Quartet No. 18 in A major, KV 464
47. Nielsen: String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13
48. Barber: String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11
49. Ives: String Quartet No. 2
50. Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B flat, Op. 67
51. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 10 in E flat, Op. 74 "Harp"
52. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1
53. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59 No. 3
54. Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C, Op. 36
55. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A flat, Op. 105, B. 193
56. Gubaidulina: String Quartet No. 4 (with tape)
57. Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
58. Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No. 5, W. 263
59. Dutilleux: String Quartet "Ainsi La Nuit"
60. Glass: String Quartet No. 3 "Mishima"
61. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2
62. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major, Op. 51, B. 92
63. Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op 51 No. 2
64. Saariaho: Nymphéa (Jardin secret III) for string quartet and live electronics
65. Nielsen: String Quartet No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 14
66. Bartók: String Quartet No 2, Op. 17, Sz. 67
67. Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37
68. Schnittke: String Quartet No. 2
69. Carter: String Quartet No. 1
70. Ligeti: String Quartet No. 1 "Métamorphoses nocturnes"
71. Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G major, KV 387
72. Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2
73. Schumann: String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1
74. Britten: String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 25
75. Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 92
76. Vasks: String Quartet No. 4
77. Rubbra: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 150
78. Rochberg: String Quartet No. 3
79. Haas, G. F.: String Quartet No. 3 "In iij. Noct"
80. Glass: String Quartet No. 4 "Buczak"
81. Haydn: String Quartet No. 31 in B minor, Op. 33 No. 1, Hob.III:37
82. Hindemith: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22
83. Ives: String Quartet No. 1, "From the Salvation Army"
84. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 92
85. Takemitsu: A Way a Lone
86. Stenhammar: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25
87. Gubaidulina: String Quartet No. 3
88. Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83
89. Bruch: String Quartet No. 2 in E major, Op. 10
90. Walton: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
91. Haydn: String Quartet No. 57 in C major, Op 74 No. 1, Hob. III:72
92. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 9 in E-Flat major, Op. 117
93. Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 44 No. 1
94. Carter: String Quartet No. 2
95. Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7
96. Webern: String Quartet, Op. 28
97. Kurtág: Hommage à Mihály András (12 Microludes for String Quartet), Op. 13
98. Villa-Lobos: String Quartet No.9, W. 457
99. Ferneyhough: Sonatas for String Quartet
100. Reger: String Quartet (No. 4) in E flat, Op. 109
101. Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25
102. Haydn: String Quartet No. 32 in C minor, Op. 33 No. 3, Hob. III:39 "The Bird"
103. Britten: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94
104. Schnittke: String Quartet No. 3
105. Nielsen: String Quartet No 4 in F major, Op. 44
106. Cage: String Quartet In Four Parts
107. Haas, G. F.: String Quartet No. 7 with electronics
108. Coates: String Quartet No. 9
109. Lutosławski: String Quartet
110. Maderna: Quartetto per Archi in due tempi
111. Mozart: String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, KV 421
112. Schumann: String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 41 No. 3
113. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op 106, B 192
114. Shostakovich: String Quartet No 14, Op. 142
115. Webern: Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9
116. Xenakis: Tetras, for String Quartet
117. Harvey: String Quartet No. 4 with live electronics
118. Bridge: String Quartet No. 2 in G minor, H. 115
119. Bloch: String Quartet No. 2
120. Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
121. Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30
122. Haydn: String Quartet No. 23 in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5, Hob. III:35
123. Szymanowski: String Quartet No. 1 in C, Op. 37
124. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108
125. Crawford-Seeger: String Quartet
126. Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat minor, Op. 30
127. Penderecki: String Quartet No. 1
128. Nono: Fragmente - Stille, An Diotima
129. Kurtág: String Quartet, Op. 1
130. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op.122
131. Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op. 50
132. Smetana: String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, JB 1:124
133. Haydn: String Quartet No. 53 in D major, Op. 64 No. 5, Hob. III:63 "The Lark"
134. Rihm: String Quartet No. 10
135. Carter: String Quartet No. 3
136. Haydn: String Quartet No. 60 in G major, Op. 76 No. 1, Hob. III:75
137. Martinů: String Quartet No. 6, H. 312
138. Henze: String Quartet No. 5
139. Takemitsu: Landscape, for string quartet
140. Reger: String Quartet (No. 5) in F sharp minor, Op.121
141. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 5 in F minor, Op. 9, B. 37
142. Myaskovsky: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, Op. 86
143. Vaughan Williams: String Quartet No. 1 in G minor
144. Respighi: Quartetto Dorico
145. Hindemith: String Quartet No 5, Op 32
146. Koechlin: String Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 51
147. Berio: Notturno (Quartetto III)
148. Manoury: Tensio, second string quartet with live-electronics
149. Cherubini: String Quartet No. 6 in A minor
150. Glass: String Quartet No. 5
151. Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 44 No. 3
152. Haydn: String Quartet No. 66 in G major, Op. 77 No. 1, Hob. III:81
153. Nørgård: String Quartet No 8 ''Night Descending Like Smoke''
154. Ge Gan-Ru: String Quartet No. 5 "Fall of Baghdad"
155. Kagel: String Quartet No. 1
156. Martinů: String Quartet No. 7, H. 314 "Concerto Da Camera"
157. Haydn: String Quartet No. 59 in G minor, Op. 74 No. 3, Hob. III:74 "Rider"
158. Scelsi: String Quartet No. 3
159. Penderecki: String Quartet No. 2
160. Feldman: String Quartet No. 2
161. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 9 in D minor, Op. 34 B 75
162. Schubert: String Quartet No. 9 in G minor, D. 173
163. Ginastera: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26
164. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 68
165. Cherubini: String Quartet No. 1 in E flat
166. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 4 in D, Op. 83
167. Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19
168. Lachenmann: Gran Torso
169. Radulescu: String Quartet No. 5 "Before The Universe Was Born"
170. Sciarrino: Sei Quartetti Brevi
171. Bridge: String Quartet No. 4, H. 188
172. Schoenberg: String Quartet in D major
173. Szymanowski: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 56
174. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
175. Haas, Pavel: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 7 "From The Monkey Mountains"
176. Dvořák: String Quartet No. 11 in C major, Op. 61, B. 121
177. Rihm: String Quartet No. 3 "Im Innersten"
178. Mennin, Peter: String Quartet No. 2
179. Riley: Requiem for Adam, for string quartet with sound collage
180. Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 22
181. Schumann: String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 41 No. 2
182. Hindemith: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10
183. Vaughan Williams: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
184. Berg: String Quartet, Op. 3
185. Reger: String Quartet (No. 2) in A major, Op.54 No.2
186. Furrer: String Quartet No. 3
187. Bruckner: String Quartet in C minor, WAB 111
188. Thomson, Virgil: String Quartet No. 2
189. Birtwistle: Nine Movements for String Quartet
190. Dillon: String Quartet No. 6
191. Bacewicz: String Quartet No. 4
192. Sculthorpe: String Quartet No. 8
193. Adès: Arcadiana, For String Quartet, Op. 12
194. Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A flat major, Op. 118
195. Höller: Antiphon
196. Kagel: String Quartet III: In Four Movements
197. Tippett: String Quartet No. 4
198. Delius: String Quartet in E minor, RT viii/8 "Late Swallows"
199. Copland: Two Pieces for String Quartet
200. Babbitt: String Quartet No. 2
A list of honorable mention works can be found
here. A list of other works mentioned can be found
here.