List of string quartet composers

This is a list of string quartet composers, chronologically sorted by date of birth and then by surname. It includes only composers who have Wikipedia articles. This list is by no means complete. String quartets are written for four string instruments—usually two violins, viola and cello—unless stated otherwise.

A string quartet in performance

Born in the 17th century

• Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725): Amongst his output of chamber sonatas, he wrote a set of Sonate a quattro per due violini, violetta e violoncello senza cembalo (c. 1715–25).[1][2]
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767): An example is Sonata á Violino I, Violino II, Viola e Violono in A major TWV 40:200.[3] There is an expanded version for chamber string orchestra.[4][5][6]

Born in the 18th century

Born in the 1700s

• Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700–1775): Wrote several quartets though as with many early works for the medium some of these could be played equally by a small string orchestra.
• Charles Wesley (1707–1788): 6 Quartettos, published in 1779.
• Franz Xaver Richter (1709–1789): Wrote seven string quartets, Op. 5 (1757).

Born in the 1720s

• Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787): published in groups of six: op. 8 (1769); op. 12 (1775), op. 15 (1789).
• Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729–1774): He is thought to have composed 37 string quartets, including six quartetti published c. 1768 as Op. 1 (H431–6); a set published as Op. 2 (H441–2, 435, 444–6); and a further six published posthumously in 1804 (H451–6).[7]

Born in the 1730s

• Antonin Kammel (1730–1784/5): Czech composer who wrote at least two string quartets
• Christian Cannabich (1731–1798): Six string quartets Op. 5 (about 1780)
• Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Wrote sixty-eight string quartets (some of which he called Divertimenti), the last incomplete, plus Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross), a sequence of eight slow movements plus a brief, rapid, finale (originally written for orchestra, but probably better known in its version for string quartet). He also arranged a set of six preludes and fugues by Gregor Werner for string quartet.
  • List of string quartets by Joseph Haydn
• Thomas Erskine (1732–1781): Nine string quartets
• François Joseph Gossec (1734–1829): Twelve string quartets: Op. 14 (1770) and Op. 15 (1772).[8]
• Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782): three quartets (1776)
• Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736–1809): 73 string quartets (called Divertimenti during 1760s and Sonate during 1780s and after), Op.20 6 quartetti con fughe per diversi stromenti (1800)
• Michael Haydn (1737–1806): 19 string quartets
• Pierre Vachon (1738–1803): About 30 string quartets including Six Quartettos for two violins, a Tenor and Bass Op. 5 (c. 1775) and Six Quatuors Concertans pour deux Violons, Alto et Basse Op. 11 (1782).[9]
• Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739–1813): Over seventy string quartets.[10]
• Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799): Composed 13 string quartets and published 12. He also composed several trios and quintets.

Born in the 1740s

• Ernst Eichner (1740–1777): In addition to flute quartets he wrote a set of six quartets, not for the usual instrument combination of 2 violins, viola, and cello, but for violin, viola, cello and double bass: Sechs Quartette (6 Quartets) Op. 12 (published 1776–77).
• Anton Zimmermann (1741–1781): Silesian-born composer who wrote three string quartets.
• Václav Pichl (1741–1805): Wrote over thirty quartets; he was one of the founders of the Vienna Violin School.
• Antoine-Laurent Baudron (1742–1834): Amongst the first French composers to write string quartets, his Sei quartetti Op. 3 were published in 1768.[11]
• Roman Hoffstetter (1742–1815): An Austrian monk and composer, now supposed to have composed the six string quartets known as Haydn's Op. 3, including the well-known 'Serenade Quartet'.
• Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805): A prolific composer in most chamber music genres, Boccherini wrote ninety-one string quartets—he also wrote many string quintets.
  • List of string quartets by Luigi Boccherini
• Gaetano Brunetti (1744–1798): Italian composer active in the Madrid area, wrote at least 50 string quartets, but also 47 trios, 65 quintets and 12 sextets[12]
• Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799): Eighteen quartets published in three sets comprising: Six quartets Op. 1,[13] Six quartetto concertans "Au gout du jour" (1779)[14] and Six quartetto concertans Op. 14 (1785).
• Giuseppe Cambini (1746–1825): Wrote 149 string quartets and 30 quartets d'airs variés (many of which exist also in versions with winds).[15] Alfred Einstein suggests that Mozart's fourth flute quartet, in his opinion a satirical work, may have been in part a comment on their popularity.
• Emanuel Aloys Förster (1748–1823): Six string quartets Op. 7 (c. 1794), six string quartets Op. 16 (c. 1798), three string quartets Op. 21 (1802).[16]
• William Shield (1748–1829): six string quartets (1782)

Born in the 1750s

• Antonio Rosetti (c.1750–1792): Eleven string quartets.
• Bartolomeo Campagnoli (1751–1827): Six string quartets.
• John Marsh (1752–1828): String Quartet in Bb major (only surviving quartet).
• Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812): Fifty string quartets (plus seven for violin, two violas and cello) (source: Grove online).
• Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824): Seventeen string quartets.
• Franz Grill (1756?–1792): Nine string quartets.
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Twenty-three string quartets, including the six so-called Haydn Quartets (1782–1785), generally reckoned to be his best, the Hoffmeister Quartet (1786), and the Prussian Quartets (1789–1790).
• Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792): Sixteen string quartets (6 Goetingen quartets are lost). See also his Flute quintet in D major.
• Paul Wranitzky (1756–1808): Wrote seventy-three string quartets which, at their best (the six quartets of Op. 16, the three of Op. 23), are second only to Haydn and the mature Mozart in quality.
• Ignace Pleyel (1757–1831): Student of Haydn, wrote 70 string quartets.
• Alessandro Rolla (1757–1841): Ten string quartets: three as Op. 2, three as Op. 5, and four others (source: Grove).
• Franz Krommer / František Kramář (1759–1831): Approximately 100 string quartets, many of which were very popular in early 19th century Vienna, and were compared positively to Beethoven's quartets.

Born in the 1760s

• Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842): Six string quartets (1814–1837).
• Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760–1812): Published three string quartets, Op. 60.
• Antonín Vranický / Anton Wranitzky (1761–1820): Thirty quartets. A founder of the Vienna "violin school" and major virtuoso, he was the teacher of Ignaz Schuppanzigh and leader of the Lobkowitz orchestra.
• Adalbert Gyrowetz / Vojtěch Matyáš Jírovec (1763–1850): Friend of Mozart, wrote at least forty-two string quartets (Grove), possibly more than fifty (Hyperion CD notes).
• Paul Alday (c.1763–1835): Three string quartets (B flat major, A major, C minor) (London & Oxford, c.1795)
• Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765–1846): Friend of Mozart, pupil of Albrechtsberger (who declared him to be the greatest musical genius in Vienna apart from Mozart) and a protégé of Joseph Haydn. Three string quartets, Op. 1, available on CD, written at the age of 22 in 1787 (published in 1794).
• Samuel Wesley (1766–1837): At least one quartet (in E♭ major, written around 1810).[17]
• Bernhard Romberg (1767–1841): Eleven complete string quartets, two sets of three quartets each Op. 1 & 25, and single quartets Opp. 12, 37, 39, 59, 60.
• Andreas Romberg (1767–1821): Twenty-nine complete string quartets: Three quartets each in Opp. 1, 2, 5, 7, 16, 30, 53, 59 and 76; a single quartet, Op. 40, and a quatuor brilliant, Op. 11. He also wrote three rondos for string quartet, Op. 34.

Born in the 1770s

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827): Sixteen quartets widely regarded as among the finest quartets by any composer. The Große Fuge was originally composed as the last movement of Op. 130, but was subsequently published as a separate work.
• Peter Hänsel (1770–1831): At least ten quartets.
• Anton Reicha (1770–1836): At least thirty-seven string quartets (14 of them newly discovered), of which the eight Vienna quartets (1801–06) are the most important. Though largely ignored since Reicha's lifetime, they were highly influential works. Groups in Europe have begun programming Reicha's quartets, and first modern editions and first recordings are now in the works.[18]
• Joseph Wölfl (1773–1812): An Austrian student of Michael Haydn and Leopold Mozart and a rival of Beethoven composed at least 13 string quartets including three quartets Op. 4, three quartets Op. 30 and six quartets Op. 51.
• Hyacinthe Jadin (1776–1800): Twelve string quartets in four opera, Opp. 1, 2, 3, 4, all in four movements except Op. 4, No. 1. Modeled on Haydn & Mozart; pre-romantic.[19]
• Joseph Küffner (1776–1856): At least five string quartets (Op. 41 nos. 1–3, Op. 52, Op. 178)[20]
• Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837): Three string quartets, Op. 30, No. 1 in C major; Op. 30, No. 2 in G major and Op. 30, No. 3 in E♭ major (all c. 1808).
• Joachim Nicolas Eggert (1779–1813): Swedish composer who composed at least twelve string quartets including: Three quartets Op. 1 (c. 1807), three quartets Op. 2 (c. 1810) and three quartets Op. 3.[21][22]

Born in the 1780s

• Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840): Fifteen string quartets for violin, viola, guitar and cello, as well as three traditional string quartets.
• George Onslow (1784–1853): Thirty-six quartets written between 1810 and 1845.
• Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838): Twenty-six string quartets including: Three quartets Op. 70 (1812, 1815) and String Quartet in F minor, WoO. 48 (1833–35).
• Louis Spohr (1784–1859): Known as Ludwig in his native Germany, Spohr wrote thirty-six string quartets and four double quartets (for two string quartets).
  • List of string quartets by Louis Spohr
• Henry Bishop (1786–1855): String Quartet in C minor 1816)
• Carl Eberwein (1786–1868): At least one string quartet, Op. 4, in A major
• Alexander Alyabyev (1787–1851): At least two string quartets, plus one incomplete.[23]
• Franz Xaver Gebel (1787–1843): At least three string quartets.
• Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789–1826): Sixteen string quartets.

Born in the 1790s

• Carl Czerny (1791–1857): Wrote at least 20 and as many as 40 string quartets, most never published, existing in manuscript form only. Several have seen recent recordings.
• Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794–1868): Wrote two string quartets (E major 1816, C minor 1847)
• Franz Berwald (1796–1868): Swedish composer, wrote three string quartets, No. 1 in G minor (1818), No. 2 in A minor (1849), and No. 3 in E♭ major (1849).
• Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848): much better known for his operas, Donizetti also wrote eighteen string quartets, the first sixteen between 1817 and 1821 (mostly 'scholastic works', though the fifth is his most performed), the seventeenth in 1825 and the last in 1836.
• Franz Schubert (1797–1828): Traditionally reckoned to have written fifteen string quartets. The Death and the Maiden and Rosamunde quartets are particularly well known.

Born in the 19th century

Born in the 1800s

• Johannes Bernardus van Bree (1801–1857): Three string quartets.
• Jan Kalivoda (1801–1866): Three string quartets.
• John Lodge Ellerton (1801–1873): Some 100 string quartets (many unpublished).
• Bernhard Molique (1802–1869): As many as 13 string quartets.
• Charles Hommann (1803–1872?): Three string quartets (by 1855)[24]
• Franz Lachner (1803–1890): at least six quartets (No. 1 in B minor, Op. 75, No. 2 in A major, Op. 76, No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120, No. 5 in G major, Op. 169, No. 6 in E minor, Op. 173).
• Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857): String Quartet in F major (1830). After attempting to compose a quartet in 1824 (a work that remained incomplete), Glinka wrote his only finished string quartet in 1830. While this piece is now seldom performed, this and its incomplete predecessor are notable as among the first attempts by a native Russian composer to work in this genre.
• Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847): String quartet in E♭ major (1834).
• Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann (1805–1900): Three string quartets.[25]
• Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806–1826): Early 19th-century Spanish composer, born on Mozart's 50th birthday. Wrote three brilliant quartets (c. 1824) before his abrupt death at age 19; No. 1 in D minor; No. 2 in A major; No. 3 in E♭ major.
• Václav Jindřich Veit (1806–1864): Early Romantic Czech composer, a major influence on Smetana, wrote four string quartets and five string quintets.
• Ignaz Lachner (1807–1895): Eight quartets (Op. 43 in F; Op. 54 in C; Op. 74 in A; Op. 104 in G; Op. 105 in A minor; Op. 106 in C for 3 violins and viola; Op. 107 in G for four violins; in B♭ Op. posth.)
• Charles Lucas (1808–1869): String Quartet in G Major (1827)
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): Six numbered string quartets: Op. 12 (1829), Op. 13 (1827), Op. 44 (three quartets, 1838), and Op. 80 (1847); an early unnumbered string quartet in E♭ major (1823); Four Pieces ("Andante", Scherzo, Capriccio, Fugue) for string quartet, Op. 81 (1847); a set of 15 fugues for string quartet, written when Mendelssohn was twelve; and another fugue (in E♭ major) for string quartet, written at age eighteen.

Born in the 1810s

• Norbert Burgmüller (1810–1836): Four string quartets: Op. 4 in D minor, Op. 7 in D minor, Op. 9 in A♭ major, and Op. 14 in A minor.
• Félicien David (1810–1876): Four string quartets: One published 1868, another three unpublished.[26][27]
• Robert Schumann (1810–1856): Wrote three string quartets (Op. 41), not among his better-known works.
• Wilhelm Taubert (1811–1891): At least four string quartets (1848? to 1872?).
• Jakob Rosenhain (1813–1894): Three string quartets (Op. 55 in G, Op. 57 in C, Op. 65 in D minor, published by Richault of Paris in 1864; his Am Abend variations for strings Op. 99 has been called in at least one source his 4th string quartet).
• Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901): One string quartet, in E minor (1873).
• Robert Volkmann (1815–1883): Six string quartets.
• Johannes Verhulst (1816–1891): Three string quartets.
• Salvatore Pappalardo (1817–1884): Four published quartets and several in manuscript.
• Niels Gade (1817–1890): One published quartet (D major, Op. 63) and suppressed quartets in F major, F minor and E minor.
• Antonio Bazzini (1818–1897): Six string quartets.
• Charles Gounod (1818–1893): At least four string quartets: D major, A major, F major, and A minor. The A minor quartet was published in 1893 as his third and received performance in Gounod's lifetime; the remaining three quartets were discovered in manuscript form in 1993.
• Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872): Two string quartets (in D minor, F major).

Born in the 1820s

• Henri Vieuxtemps (1820–1881): Three string quartets (in E minor, Op. 44, in C major, Op. 51, in B♭, Op. 52—the latter two published posthumously).
• Emilie Mayer (1821–1883): String quartet in G minor, Op. 14 and several in manuscript.
• Friedrich Kiel (1821–1885): Two string quartets (Op. 53, in A minor and E♭) and waltzes Op.73 and Op. 78.
• Joachim Raff (1822–1882): Nine string quartets, the first (1850) lost/destroyed (the other eight between 1855 and 1874); the last three (all from 1874) share an opus number and were also called suites by the composer.
• César Franck (1822–1890): One string quartet (1889).
• Édouard Lalo (1823–1892): One string quartet, in E-flat major (originally composed in 1855 as Op. 19 but revised in 1884 as Op. 45).
• Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884): Two string quartets, No. 1 in E minor From my Life; and No. 2 in D minor, with the first being the better known.
• Anton Bruckner (1824–1896): One string quartet (1862).
• Carl Reinecke (1824–1910): Five string quartets (Op. 16 in E♭ in 1842, Op. 30 in F around 1851, Op. 132 in C around 1874, Op. 211 in D, Op. 287 in G minor).
• Edward Mollenhauer (1827–1914): United States violinist and composer born in Prussia: his best-known compositions were quartets; he also wrote three operas.
• Woldemar Bargiel (1828–1897): String quartets (including No. 3, Op. 15b in A minor and No. 4, Op. 47 in D minor).
• Anton Rubinstein (1829–1894): String quartets spread throughout his life.

Born in the 1830s

• Karl Goldmark (1830–1915): Goldmark's only string quartet (String Quartet in B♭ major, Op.8, 1860) was his breakthrough work, his first composition to receive very positive reviews in contemporary Viennese musical journals. Long neglected, it was recorded several times in the 1990s as part of a general revival of interest in Goldmark's chamber music.
• Salomon Jadassohn (1831–1902): One string quartet, in C minor, Op. 10 (1858).
• Johann Joseph Abert (1832–1915): String Quartet in A, dedicated to Karl Eckert (1862).
• Alexander Borodin (1833–1887): Two string quartets: No. 1 in A (1879) and No. 2 in D (1881)
• Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Three string quartets, the first two in 1873 and the final one in 1875.
• Felix Draeseke (1835–1913): Three string quartets between 1880 and 1895.
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): Two string quartets: Op. 112 (1889) and Op. 153 (1918).
• Józef Wieniawski (1837–1912): At least one quartet, in A minor, Op. 32.
• Max Bruch (1838–1920): Two string quartets, from his student days or a little after, Op. 9 in C minor (1858–59) and Op. 10 in E major (1860).
• Ernst Eduard Taubert (1838–1934): At least four string quartets (1877 to 1902).
• Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901): Two string quartets, in C minor, Op. 89 and F major, Op. 147.
• Friedrich Gernsheim (1839–1916): Five string quartets (No. 1 in C minor, Op. 25 (perf. 1871); No. 2 in A minor, Op. 31 (perf. 1874); No. 3 in F major, Op. 51 (1886); No. 4 in E minor, Op. 66 (perf. 1900); No. 5 in A major, Op. 83 (c. 1911)).

Born in the 1840s

• Hermann Goetz (1840–1876): One string quartet in B♭ (1865–66).
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893): Three string quartets: No. 1 in D, Op. 11 (1871); No. 2 in F, Op. 22 (1873); and No. 3 in E♭ minor, Op. 30 (1876), of which the first is the best-known, especially the Andante cantabile second movement which has been recorded many times with full string orchestra. There is also a quartet movement in B♭ major from 1865.
• Johan Svendsen (1840–1911): One string quartet, his Op. 1.
• Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): Fourteen string quartets, out of which number twelve, the American, is the best known.
• Giovanni Sgambati (1841–1914): Two string quartets, one in D minor (1864), and one in D♭ major, his Op. 17 (1882).
• Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929): One string quartet in D minor[28] and another in A major (published in 2000).
• Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843–1900): Wrote five string quartets (1876–1890).
• Edvard Grieg (1843–1907): Two string quartets, the second being unfinished.
• Ján Levoslav Bella (1843–1936): Three string quartets, in E minor (1871), C minor (1880) and B♭ minor (1887).
• Georg Wilhelm Rauchenecker (1844–1906): Six string quartets.
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): Better known for his orchestral suites, he also wrote three complete string quartets, two single movements and three other pieces for string quartet.
• Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844–1931): Two string quartets.
• Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924): One string quartet, in E minor, Op. 121 (1924).
• August Klughardt (1847–1902): Two string quartets (in F, Op. 42 and in D, Op. 61).
• Robert Fuchs (1847–1927): Four string quartets: No. 1 in E, Op. 58 (1895); No. 2 in A minor, Op. 62 (1899); No. 3 in C, Op. 71 (1903); No. 4 in A, Op. 106 (1916) (Austrian National Library claims to have a late 5th quartet and several in manuscript predating No. 1).
• Alexander Mackenzie (1847–1935): One string quartet in G (1868).
• Hubert Parry (1848–1918): Three string quartets (unpublished during his lifetime).
• Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848–1890): One string quartet, in D minor, Op. 23 (c. 1870).
• Benjamin Godard (1849–1895): Three string quartets.

Born in the 1850s

• Zdeněk Fibich (1850–1900): Two string quartets (A major, 1874, G major, 1878) and a set of variations for quartet (B♭, 1883) according to Orfeo CD label.
• Alexander Taneyev (1850–1918): Three string quartets: No. 1 in G major, Op. 25; No. 2 in C major, Op. 28; and No. 3 in A major, Op. 30. (source: Olympia CD notes)
• Antonio Scontrino (1850–1922): Four string quartets (A minor, G minor, F major, C major) and a movement (prelude and fugue in E minor) for string quartet.
• Vincent d'Indy (1851–1931): Three string quartets.
• Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924): Eight string quartets (1891–1919); No 1, op 44 (1891), No 2, op 45 (1891), No 3, op 64 (1897), No 4, op 99 (1897), No 5, op 104 (1907), No 6, op 122 (1910), No 7, op 166 (1919), No 8, op 167 (1919)
• Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Two string quartets, known as The Kreutzer Sonata and Intimate Letters.
• Ernest Chausson (1855–1899): One string quartet in three movements; the third movement was completed by Vincent d'Indy after Chausson's death in 1899.
• Christian Sinding (1856–1941): String quartet, his Op. 70.
• Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915): Nine complete string quartets, two partial. (source: Grove Music Online)
• Edward Elgar (1857–1934): One string quartet in E minor, Op. 83 (1918).
• Sylvio Lazzari (1857–1944): String quartet in A minor, Op. 17.
• Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924): An elegy for string quartet, Crisantemi ("Chrysanthemums"), that he wrote in 1890.
• Ethel Smyth (1858–1944): One published string quartet, in E minor (1902–1912) and one unpublished, dating from her student days in Leipzig, in C minor.
• Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1859–1935): At least one string quartet, Op. 13 in A minor.
• Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951): Five string quartets (1888–1951; the fifth incomplete at his death).
• Nikolay Sokolov (1859–1922): Three string quartets (in F major Op. 7, in A major Op. 14 and in D minor, Op. 20, published 1890, 1892 and 1894) and contributed to projects of the Belyayev circle with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Kopylov and others (including a polka for Les Vendredis for string quartet and other works).

Born in the 1860s

• Emil von Reznicek (1860–1945): Four string quartets, including No. 1 in C♯ minor (1921), also in D minor;[29] pub. Birnbach, 1923, Berlin) and B♭ major (pub. Bimbach, 1932), quartet in C minor (published by E.W. Fritzsch, Leipzig, 1883). (Also fragments, early quartets, alternate versions? The situation is clarified somewhat in the article and some of the manuscripts are now being published).
• Hugo Wolf (1860–1903): One string quartet (1884) and a more famous Italian Serenade for string quartet (1892); also, an Intermezzo.
• Anton Arensky (1861–1906): Two string quartets, No. 1 (Op. 11) and No. 2 (Op. 35), the latter for violin, viola and two cellos and including the Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky, also arranged for string orchestra.
• Charles Martin Loeffler (1861–1935): Two string quartets, in A minor (1889), and Music for Four Stringed Instruments (1917).
• Claude Debussy (1862–1918): One string quartet, in G minor, Op. 10 (1893).
• Frederick Delius (1862–1934): Three string quartets (1888, 1893 and 1916).
• Friedrich Klose (1862–1942): One string quartet ("Ein Tribut in vier Raten entrichtet an Seine Gestrengen den deutschen Schulmeister"), in E♭ major (1911).
• Felix Blumenfeld (1863–1931): One string quartet, Op. 26 in F Major (1898).
• Emánuel Moór (1863–1931): Two string quartets, Op. 59 in A and Op. 87, and other works for string quartet[30]
• Hugo Kaun (1863–1932): Four string quartets (in F major, Op. 40, pub. 1898; in D minor, Op. 41, pub. 1899; in C minor, Op. 74, pub. 1907; in A minor, Op. 114, pub. 1921).
• Felix Weingartner (1863–1942): Five string quartets (in D minor, Op. 24, in F minor, Op. 26, in F, Op. 34, in D, Op. 62, and in E♭, Op. 81, pub. 1899, 1900, 1903, 1918 and ?).
• Eugen d'Albert (1864–1932): Two string quartets (in A minor, Op. 7 and in E♭, Op. 11, 1887 and 1893).
• Alexander Gretchaninov (1864–1956): Four string quartets: No. 1 in G major, Op. 2 (1894); No. 2 in D minor, Op. 70 (1913); No. 3 in C minor, Op. 75 (1915); No. 4 in F major, Op. 124 (1929).
• Alberto Nepomuceno (1864–1920): Three string quartets.
• Guy Ropartz (1864–1955): Six quartets (1893–1951).
• Richard Strauss (1864–1949): One string quartet.
• Albéric Magnard (1865–1914): One string quartet (Op. 16, 1903).
• Gustav Jenner (1865–1920): Three string quartets (1907, 1910 and 1911).[31]
• Carl Nielsen (1865–1931): Four published string quartets, also an early quartet and quartet movements.
• Alexander Glazunov (1865–1936): Seven string quartets, and numerous other compositions for string quartet (the Five Pieces of 1879–1881, the Five Novelettes Op. 15, the Finale of the B-la-F Quartet and the first movement Carol-singers of the Name-day Quartet, the Suite Op. 35, the Two Pieces of 1902, and the Elegy for Belyayev Op. 105). The Third Quartet (1888) is often nicknamed the Slav Quartet, while the Seventh Quartet (1930) is subtitled "Homage to the Past".
• Robert Kahn (1865–1951): Two string quartets: In A major, Op. 8, and in A minor, Op. 60 (published in 1890 and 1914 respectively).
• Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Four unnumbered string quartets: three from his student years (E♭ major, JS 184, 1885; A minor, JS 183, 1889; and, B♭ major, Op. 4, 1890) and one, Voces intimae (D minor, Op. 56, 1909), from his mature period. Numerous individual pieces for quartet, including Adagio (D minor, JS 12, 1890) and Andante festivo (JS 34a, 1922), are also extant.
• Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924): Two string quartets, Op. 19 in C minor (1884) and Op. 26 in D minor (1887).
• Swan Hennessy (1866–1929): Four numbered string quartets (No. 1, Op. 46 [1912]; No. 2, Op. 49 [1920]; No. 3, Op. 61 [1926]; No. 4, Op. 75 [1930]); a Sérénade Op. 65 (1925) for string quartet; and a version for soprano and string quartet (1928) of the Trois Chansons espagnoles Op. 42b (originally with piano, 1921).
• Charles Wood (1866–1926): Eight string quartets (1885, 1893, 1912, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1917, and Variations on an Irish Folk Song, 1917), collectively published by Oxford University Press in 1929.
• Ewald Straesser (1867–1933): Five string quartets (publication dates 1901, 1901, 1913, 1920, 1927).
• Amy Beach (1867–1944): One quartet, String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 89 (1921).
• Charles Koechlin (1867–1950): Three string quartets, in D major Op. 51 (1911–13), Op. 57 (1911–16), Op. 72 (1917–21).
• Max von Schillings (1868–1933): String quartet in E minor (about 1887).
• John Blackwood McEwen (1868–1948): Seventeen numbered string quartets; No 1 (1893), No 2 (1891), No 3 (1901), No 4 (1905), No 5 and 6 (1912), No 7 (1916), No 8 (1918), No 9 and 10 (1920), No 11 (1921), No 12 (1923), No 13 (1928), No 14, 15 and 16 (1936), No 17 (1947), plus two unnumbered (1890s)
• Albert Roussel (1869–1937): One string quartet (in D major, his Op. 45, 1931–1932).
• Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949): Four string quartets (in D minor, without Op. number, 1886; D major, Op. 13 1903, C♯ minor, Op. 36 from 1925 – later arranged into a symphony, and C minor, Op. 50, 1942).

Born in the 1870s

• Alfred Hill (1870–1960): Australian composer, wrote seventeen string quartets.
• Vítězslav Novák (1870–1949): Three quartets (1899–1938).
• Joseph Ryelandt (1870–1965): Four string quartets (1897–1943).[32]
• Florent Schmitt (1870–1958): String Quartet in G, Op. 112 (1947).
• Louis Vierne (1870–1937): One string quartet (1894).

Jacob Weinberg (1879-1956): String Quartet, Opus 55 (recording available on Naxos Label, recorded by Milken Archive. See Wikipedia, "Jacob Weinberg")

• Henry Kimball Hadley (1871–1937): Two string quartets: No. 1 in A, Op. 24, and No. 2, Op. 132 (1932).
• Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871–1927): Swedish composer, wrote seven string quartets (but withdrew one quartet, in F minor), and arranged other works for quartet.
• Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942) Four string quartets and two movements for string quartet: No. 1 in A major, Op. 4 (1896); No. 2, Op. 15 (1913–15); No. 3, Op. 19 (1924); No. 4 (Suite), Op. 25 (1936); and two movements for string quartet (1927).
• Paul Juon (1872–1940): Four string quartets: A youthful Op. 5 and three acknowledged quartets Op. 11 in B minor, Op. 29 in A minor and Op. 67 in C major.
• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958): Two numbered string quartets: No. 1 in G minor (1908, rev. 1921) and No. 2 in A minor (1942/3). Also one student work in C minor (1897)
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943): Two early quartets, both never finished: No. 1 (c. 1890) and No. 2 (c. 1896).
• Max Reger (1873–1916): Six string quartets (including an early posthumously-published work with an optional part for double bass).
• Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947): At least two string quartets (A minor from 1939, F major from 1943).
• Charles Ives (1874–1954): Two string quartets (1896 and 1913), the first entitled From the Salvation Army.
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951): Four numbered string quartets, the second of which includes a part for soprano. Also composed an early, unnumbered, string quartet.
• Franz Schmidt (1874–1939): Quartet No. 1 in A major (1925), Quartet No. 2 in G major (1929).
• Josef Suk (1874–1935): Two string quartets—in B♭, Op. 11 from 1896, and Op. 31 in one movement from 1911, tonal but from G minor -> D♭. Also the Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslas, Op. 35a, 1914.
• Franco Alfano (1875–1954): Three string quartets.
• Reinhold Glière (1875–1956): Four string quartets: In A major, Op. 2 (1899), in G minor, Op. 20 (1905), in D minor, Op. 67 (1927), in F minor, Op. 83 (1943).
• Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962): String quartet in A minor (1919).
• Erkki Melartin (1875–1937): Four quartets, in E minor (1896), G minor (1900), E♭ major (1902) and in F major (1910).[33]
• Maurice Ravel (1875–1937): One string quartet, in F major (1903).
• Wilhelm Paul Richter (1875–1950): At least three string quartets: Op. 98 in C minor, Op. 99 in D minor and Op. 122 in E major. No. 2, Op. 99 was composed in 1937.[34] All 3 published by Frieder Latzina-Verlag of Karlsruhe in 2001–2002.[35]
• Richard Wetz (1875–1935): Two string quartets: in F minor, Op. 43, in E minor, Op. 49.
• Erno Dohnányi (1877–1960): Three string quartets (1899, 1906, 1926).
• Lucien Durosoir (1878–1955): Three string quartets (1920, 1922, 1933–34).
• Joseph Holbrooke (1878–1958): Six string quartets (No. 1 Op. 17b Fantasie-Quartet (1904, pub.1922), No. 2 War Impressions Op. 58a pub. 1915, No. 3 Pickwick Club Op. 68 pub. 1916, No. 4 Folksong Suite Op. 71 c. 1916, No. 5 Folksong Suite No. 2 Op. 72 c. 1917, No. 6 Folksong Suite No. 3 Op.73 c. 1918) and a further Suite No. 1 Cambria Op. 101.
• Frank Bridge (1879–1941): Five string quartets: B♭ major (1901); No. 1 in E minor ('Bologna') (1906); No. 2 in G minor (1915); No. 3 (1926); No. 4 (1937), plus a host of other, shorter pieces.
• Jean Cras (1879–1932): One string quartet (1909).[36]
• John Ireland (1879–1962): Two string quartets: D minor (1895–1897?, scholarship work, RCM) and C minor (1897?, composed as a student work at the R.C.M.), both published only c. 1973.[37]
• Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936): Seven or eight string quartets or works for quartet (one with an unusual instrumentation): D major (1898), Cortège (1898), B♭ major (1898), D♭ major (1903) (incomplete?), D major (1904), in D major for quinton, viola d’amore, viola da gamba, viola da basso (1904), D minor (1909) and Quartetto Dorico (1924).[38]

Born in the 1880s

• Ernest Bloch (1880–1959): Six string quartets (in G (1896) and five numbered quartets – 1916, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1956; individual shorter works e.g. In the Mountains (1924), Prelude (1925), Night (1923), 2 Pieces (1938, 1950), Paysages (1923)).
• Joseph-Ermend Bonnal (1880–1944): Two string quartets (1927? and 1934)[39]
• Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880–1968): Two string quartets in A major (1906) and D major (1932–33).
• Béla Bartók (1881–1945): Six string quartets widely regarded as being the finest quartets of the first half of the 20th century.
• George Enescu (1881–1955): Two string quartets (No. 1 in E♭ and No. 2 in G, Op. 22 nos. 1 and 2, 1916–1920 and 1951).
• Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881–1950): Thirteen (1907–1949).
• Nikolai Roslavets (1881–1944): Five string quartets (1913, 1915, 1920, 1929–31, 1942 ), and a minuet (1907);[40] only Nos. 1,[41] 3 & 5,[42] and the minuet, have been published as of 2015.
• Ignatz Waghalter (1881–1949): One string quartet, in D major, Op. 3.
• Karl Weigl (1881–1949): Eight string quartets: No. 1 in C minor (1903 or 1905); No. 2 in E (with viola d'amore) (1906); No. 3 in A major (1909); No. 4 in D minor (1924); No. 5 in G major (1933); No. 6 in C (1939); No. 7 in F minor (1942); No. 8 in D (1949)[43][44]
• Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967): Two string quartets (1908 and 1917).
• Mary Lucas (1882–1952): Six string quartets
• Joseph Marx (1882–1964): Three string quartets.[45] not counting the original version of one and a draft.
• Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882–1973): Eight string quartets (1920–1964).
• Artur Schnabel (1882–1951): Five string quartets (1918–1940).[46]
• Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Three Pieces for String Quartet (1914); Concertino (1920); Double Canon for String Quartet (1959).
• Joaquín Turina (1882–1949): An early quartet Op. 4 (1911) and a later work for string quartet, La oración del torero (1925).
• Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937): Two string quartets, No. 1, Op. 37 in C major (1917) and No. 2, Op. 56 (1927).
• Arnold Bax (1883–1953): Three (mature) string quartets: No. 1 in G major (1918), No. 2 in E minor (1925) and No. 3 in F major (1936) and also 2 quartets from 1902.[47]
• Fran Lhotka (1883–1962): String quartet in G minor.
• Anton Webern (1883–1945): His String Quartet is composed using the twelve-tone technique. His Five Movements, Op. 5 (1909) and Six Bagatelles, Op. 9 (1911–13) are also significant in SQ literature. Plus, a string quartet, a slow movement and a rondo from 1905
• Alban Berg (1885–1935): String Quartet, Op. 3 (1910) and Lyric Suite (Berg) (1926) for string quartet.
• Egon Wellesz (1885–1974): Nine string quartets, No. 1 'in five movements' Op. 14 (1911–12) through No. 9, Op. 97 (1966) and Op. 103 Music for String Quartet.
• Algot Haquinius (1886–1966): Three string quartets.
• Othmar Schoeck (1886–1957): Two string quartets (Op. 23, 1913, and Op. 37, 1923) and a movement for string quartet (1908).
• Kurt Atterberg (1887–1974): Three string quartets.
• Bernard van Dieren (1887–1936): No 1 (1912), No 2, op 9 (1917), No 3, op 15 (1919), No 4, op 16 (1923), No 6 (1927), No 5 (1931)
• Ernst Toch (1887–1964): Thirteen string quartets, the first five now lost, and a brief Dedication for quartet.
• Fartein Valen (1887–1952): Two string quartets.
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959): Seventeen string quartets between 1915 and 1957.
• Matthijs Vermeulen (1888–1967): One string quartet (1960–61).
• Johanna Beyer (1888–1944): At least four (1934, 1936, ?, 1943).
• Hugo Kauder (1888–1972): Nineteen string quartets.

Born in the 1890s

• Andres Isasi (1890–1940): Eight string quartets.
• Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959): Ten string quartets of which only eight survive, Nos. 1–7 and the unnumbered Tři jezdci (1902)[48]
• Arthur Bliss (1891–1975): Four string quartets: No. 1 in A major (1914); No. 2 (1923); No. 3 in B♭ major (1941); No. 4 (1950).
• Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953): Two string quartets (1930 and 1941).
• Arthur Honegger (1892–1955): Three string quartets, in C minor (1917), D major (1936), and E major (1937).
• Darius Milhaud (1892–1974): Eighteen, the fourteenth and fifteenth of which may be played as an octet.
• Hilding Rosenberg (1892–1985): Twelve (No. 1, 1920 revised 1955 to No. 12, 1957).
• Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983): One quartet (1917–19).
• Arthur Lourié (1892–1966): Three quartets: No. 1 (1915), No. 2 (1923) and No. 3 Suite (1924).
• Alois Hába (1893–1973): Sixteen quartets, employing various microtonal systems (e.g. No. 11 uses a sixth-tone system; No. 12, quarter-tone; No. 16, fifth-tone).
• Rued Langgaard (1893–1952): Six numbered quartets, as well as a set of variations (BVN 71, 1914, r. 1931), the Italian Scherzo (BVN 408, 1950), the (unnumbered) String Quartet in A-flat major (BVN 155, 1918), and Rosengaardsspil (Rose Garden Play; BVN 153, 1918).
• Paul Dessau (1894–1979): Seven string quartets (No. 1 before 1943 and published 1969?, No. 2 in 1942/43, No. 3 in 1943–46, No. 4 Barbaraquartett (or 99 Bars for Barbara),[49] No. 5 Quartettino (Felsenstein-Quartett) in 1955, No. 6 Sieben Sätze für Streichquartett in 1974, No. 7 in 1975. Also a string quartet movement in 1957.
• Ernest John Moeran (1894–1950): Two string quartets (in A minor and in E♭ major).
• Willem Pijper (1894–1947): Five string quartets (1914, 1920, 1923, 1928, 1946).
• Walter Piston (1894–1976): Five string quartets (from 1933 to 1962).
• Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942): Two numbered string quartets (1924, 1925), one unnumbered quartet. (1918), plus a Divertimento, Op. 14 (1914) and a set of Five Pieces (1923).
• Paul Hindemith (1895–1963): A violist, wrote seven string quartets.
• Dane Rudhyar (1895–1985): Crisis and Overcoming (1978), Advent (1976).
• Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970): Two string quartets (1950–55; 1960–62).[50] Three earlier quartets at least are lost.
• Howard Hanson (1896–1981): One string quartet in one movement, his Op. 23 (1923).
• Roger Sessions (1896–1985): Two string quartets (1938, 1951), Canons to the memory of Stravinsky (1971).
• Virgil Thomson (1896–1989): Two string quartets (1931 and 1932).
• Henry Cowell (1897–1965): Four quartets.
• John Fernström (1897–1961): Eight quartets.
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957): Perhaps better known for his movie scores, his formal works include three string quartets, Op. 16 in A (1923), Op. 26 in E♭(1933), Op. 34 in D (1945).
• Francisco Mignone (1897–1986): Two, both in 1957.
• Quincy Porter (1897–1966): Nine (No. 1 in E minor, 1922–23; No. 9, 1958).
• Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986): Nine (one lost, replaced by Triptych)[51] for most of that, Fanfare review of a recording for the rest).
• Hanns Eisler (1898–1962): One string quartet, 1937.[52]
• George Gershwin (1898–1937): One piece for string quartet, a Lullaby, 1919 or 1920.
• Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944): Three string quartets of which two are lost.
• Pavel Haas (1899–1944): Three string quartets from 1920 to 1938.
• Hans Krása (1899–1944): One quartet (1921).
• Jón Leifs (1899–1968): Icelandic composer, 3 string quartets: No. 1 'Mors et vita', Op. 21, (1939); No. 2 'Vita et mors', Op. 36, (1948–51); No. 3 'El Greco', Op. 64 (1965). (source: Grove)
• Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940): Four quartets.
• Herbert Griffiths (1899–1969): One string quartet in B minor (1920).
• Alexander Tcherepnin (1899–1977): Two quartets (1922, 1926).
• Randall Thompson (1899–1984): Two quartets, in D minor (about 1941 – possibly earlier, see Library of Congress listing?) and G major (1967).

Born in the 20th century

Born in the 1900s

• George Antheil (1900–1959): Three quartets (1925, 1927, 1948), plus two smaller collections.
• Aaron Copland (1900–1990): Four pieces for string quartet (1921, unpublished; 1923, 1923, 1928).
• Ernst Krenek (1900–1991): Eight, covering a wide range of 20th Century musical styles.
• Otto Luening (1900–1996): Piece for string quartet published in 1914, and two quartets published by CF Peters as string quartets 2 and 3 in the 1970s (No. 2 dating from 1922, No. 3 from 1927).[53]
• Alexander Mosolov (1900–1973): Probably two quartets: Op. 24 1926 and 1943; only No. 1 survived.
• Hans Erich Apostel (1901–1972): Two mature numbered quartets (1935, 1956) and other works for string quartet (early quartets from 1925 and 1926; 6 Epigrams, Op. 33 from 1962).[54]
• Henri Sauguet (1901–1989): Three numbered string quartets (1941, 1948, 1979) and Méditation (1983)[55]
• Edmund Rubbra (1901–1986): Four string quartets (No. 1 in F minor, Op. 35, 1933 revised 1946; No. 2 in E♭ Op. 73, 1951; No. 3, Op. 112, 1963; No. 4, Op. 150, 1977; dates from the notes to the Sterling Quartet cycle on Conifer).
• Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953): One string quartet (1931).
• Emil Hlobil (1901–1987): At least five string quartets (at least 3 published: No. 2, Op. 15, (1935–36); No. 3, Op. 50 (1955); No. 5, Op. 81 (1971)[56]
• Vissarion Shebalin (1902–1963): Nine quartets (1923–1963).[57]
• Stefan Wolpe (1902–1972): String quartet (1968–1969).
• William Walton (1902–1983): Two string quartets (1922 and 1947).
• Günter Raphael (1903–1960): Six quartets (1924–1954).
• Berthold Goldschmidt (1903–1996): Four quartets; No 1 (1925–6), No 2 (1936), No 3 (1988–9), No 4 (1992)
• Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949): Wrote many; only 4 works survived: No. 1 (1928), No. 3 (1935), No. 4 (1940) and Zehn Stücke [Skizzen] (1940) plus arrangements of traditional Greek dances.
• Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904–1987): Two string quartets (1928 and 1945).
• Arthur Dennington (1904–1988): String quartet (1926).
• Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–1963): Two quartets (1933, 1945–46).
• Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971): Four quartets (1935–1965).
• Verdina Shlonsky (1905–1990): One string quartet.
• Eduard Tubin (1905–1982): One string quartet.
• William Alwyn (1905–1985): Three string quartets (1954, 1975 and 1984), Three Winter Poems for string quartet (1948), and a Novelette for string quartet (1938).
• Giacinto Scelsi (1905–1988): Five quartets (1944, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1984).
• Michael Tippett (1905–1998): Five numbered string quartets plus two unnumbered youthful works.
• Klaus Egge (1906–1979): Several quartets.
• Benjamin Frankel (1906–1973): Five quartets (1944–1965); No 1 (1944), No 2 (1945), No 3 (1947), No 4 (1948), No 5 (1965)
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975): Fifteen string quartets.
• Elisabeth Lutyens (1906–1984): Thirteen quartets.
• Ross Lee Finney (1906–1997): Eight quartets: No. 1 in F minor (1935) to No. 8 (1960).
• Camargo Guarnieri (1907–1993): Two string quartets (1932, 1944).
• Elizabeth Maconchy (1907–1994): Thirteen quartets. No 1 (1931), No 2 (1937), No 3 (1938), No 4 (1943), No 5 (1948), No 6 (1950), No 7 (1957), No 8 (1967), No 9 (1968), No 10 (1971), No 11 (1976), No 12 (1979), No 13 (1983).
• Miklós Rózsa (1907–1995): Best known for his film scores, Rózsa also composed concert music including two string quartets, No. 1, Op. 22 (1950) and No. 2, Op. 38 (1981).
• Ahmed Adnan Saygun (1907–1991): Four string quartets: Op. 27 (1947), Op. 35 (1957), Op. 43 (1966) and Op. 78 (1990).
• Elliott Carter (1908–2012): Five string quartets in the second half of the 20th century; also, Elegy (1948) and Fragments 1 & 2 (1994; 1999); the second quartet won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1960; the third, in 1973.
• Kurt Hessenberg (1908–1994): eight string quartets (1934–1987).[58]
• John Verrall (1908–2001): Seven string quartets
• Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969): Seven string quartets, the first two only recently published and recorded (the others from 1947 to 1965).
• Vagn Holmboe (1909–1996): Twenty-one numbered quartets, the last of which (Quartetto sereno, Op. 197, 1996) was completed by Per Nørgård. Also extant is a handful of 'lettered' quartets (in various degrees of completion), a quartet arrangement ofSværm (Swarm, Op. 190b, 1996; originally for two violins), and the Concerto for String Quartet (Op. 195, 1996; includes orchestra), Holmboe's last completed work.

Born in the 1910s

• Josef Tal (1910–2008) Three string quartets (1954, 1963, 1976).
• Samuel Barber (1910–1981): One string quartet (B minor, Op. 11, 1936–43), from which the Adagio for Strings was orchestrated, as well as a Serenade (Op. 1, 1928; arranged for strings in 1944) and Dover Beach (Op. 3, 1931; includes baritone soloist); a second quartet, commissioned in 1947, never progressed beyond early sketches.
• Evgeny Golubev (1910–1988): twenty-four string quartets (1931–1986).
• Nino Rota (1911–1979): One string quartet (1948–1954).
• William Schuman (1910–1992): Five string quartets (1936–1987).
• Bernard Herrmann (1911–1975): Best known as a film composer (Citizen Kane, Psycho, Taxi Driver, etc.), Echoes was his only string quartet (1966)
• Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000): American composer of Armenian heritage wrote 4 string quartets, recorded by the Shanghai Quartet amongst others.[59]
• Arkady Filippenko (1912–1983): Ukrainian composer who wrote three string quartets; No. 1 in A minor, No. 2 in D major, No. 3 in G major. String quartet No. 2 was awarded the U.S.S.R. State Prize in 1948.[60]
• John Cage (1912–1992): String Quartet in Four Parts (1950), Thirty Pieces for String Quartet (1983), Music for Four (the quartet parts extracted from his Music for...) (1987–1988), Four (1989). Also, many of Cage's indeterminate scores can be arranged for string quartet.
• Conlon Nancarrow (1912–1997): Three string quartets (1945, c. 1948, 1987); second incomplete.
• Vadim Salmanov (1912–1978): Six string quartets.
• Benjamin Britten (1913–1976): Three numbered string quartets (1941, 1945 and 1975) plus two early unnumbered ones (1928 and 1931) and a number of other works for string quartet (such as the three Divertimenti, 1933).
• Tikhon Khrennikov (1913–2007): Three quartets, the third his Op. 33 (1988).
• Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994): One string quartet (1964).
• David Diamond (1915–2005): Ten string quartets, from 1940 to 1974.
• George Perle (1915–2009): Eleven, of which five (1–4, 6) were withdrawn.
• Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987): Four string quartets (1939, 1944, 1959, 1972).
• Milton Babbitt (1916–2011): Five abstract, densely serialistic quartets in the mid-20th century, and a sixth premiered in 2002.
• Henri Dutilleux (1916–2013): One quartet, Ainsi la nuit (1976).
• Einar Englund (1916–1999): One quartet in 1985.
• Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983): Four string quartets, 1948 to 1974, the last with baritone to a text from Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament.
• Bernard Stevens (1916–1983): Two quartets; No 1 (1949), No 2 (1962)
• Brian Boydell (1917–2000): Three (1949, 1957, 1969), plus Adagio and Scherzo for String Quartet (1991).
• Lou Harrison (1917–2003): String Quartet Set (1979).
• Isang Yun (1917–1995): Six string quartets (No. 1 before 1956, No. 2 withdrawn, No. 3 in 1959, revised in 1961, No. 4 in 1988, No. 5 in 1990 and No. 6 in 1992.[61]
• George Rochberg (1918–2005) Seven quartets: The sixth quartet includes a set of variations on Pachelbel's Canon; the second includes a soprano part with texts by Rilke; the seventh includes a baritone part to texts by his late son. String Quartet No. 3 is well known for its supposedly neo-romantic esthetic.
• Sven-Erik Bäck (1919–1994): Four (1945, 1947, 1962, 1984).
• Phyllis Gummer (1919–2005): Four string quartets.
• Leon Kirchner (1919–2009): Four (1949, 1958, 1967, 2007); the third, which includes a tape part, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1967.
• Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996): Seventeen, from his Op. 2 (1937 rev. 1986) to Op. 146 (1987).[62]

Born in the 1920s

• Peter Racine Fricker (1920–1990): Three string quartets (1948, 1953, 1976).
• Bruno Maderna (1920–1973): Quartetto per archi (c. 1946); Quartetto per archi in due tempi (1955), dedicated to Luciano Berio.
• William Bergsma (1921–1994): Five string quartets (1942, 1944, 1953, 1970, 1982).
• Karel Husa (1921–2016): Four quartets; the third quartet won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1969.
• Andrew Imbrie (1921–2007): At least five (fifth written in 1987).
• Joonas Kokkonen (1921–1996): Three string quartets (1959, 1966, 1976).
• Robert Simpson (1921–1997): Fifteen string quartets between 1952 and 1991.
• Rosalina Abejo (1922–1991): Three string quartets.
• Stefans Grove (1922–2014): Two string quartets (1946, 1955)[63]
• Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001): Four works for string quartet: "st/4—1,080262" (1955–1962), which was written with the help of an IBM 7090 computer using stochastic algorithms, Tetras (1983), a work in nine sections, Tetora (1990), and Ergma (1994).
• György Ligeti (1923–2006): String Quartet No. 1 ("Métamorphoses nocturnes") (1953–1954) and String Quartet No. 2 (1968).
• Peter Mennin (1923–1983): Two string quartets (1941 and 1951).
• Daniel Pinkham (1923–2006): At least one string quartet
• Mel Powell (1923–1998): Filigree Setting (1959), String Quartet (1982).
• Lejaren Hiller (1924–1994): Seven quartets.
• Ezra Laderman (1924–2015): Twelve string quartets.
• Benjamin Lees (1924–2010): Six string quartets.[64]
• Luigi Nono (1924–1990): Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima for string quartet (1980), inspired by the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin
• Veniamin Basner (1925–1996): Five string quartets: No. 1 Op. 1 (1948) in one movement; No. 2 Op. 5 (1953), a piece in three movements; No. 3 Op. 9 (1960), in four movements; No. 4 Op. 18 (1969), in three movements; and No. 5 Op. 24 (1975), in two movements.[65]
• Luciano Berio (1925–2003): Quatuor No. 1 (1956), dedicated to Bruno Maderna; Sincronie (1963–64); Notturno (1993); Glosse (1997).
• Pierre Boulez (1925–2016): Livre pour quatuor (1949) withdrawn, recasting some parts later as Livre pour cordes; lately, ensembles have been showing interest in the work as a whole, with Parts I, II, III, V and VI recorded recently.
• Bertold Hummel (1925–2002): String Quartet No. 1, Op. 3 (1951); String Quartet No. 2, Op. 46 (1972); 8 FRAGMENTS from Letters of Vincent van Gogh for Baritone and String Quartet, Op. 84 (1985); Concertante Music for Guitar and String Quartet, Op. 89a (1989).
• Gunther Schuller (1925–2015): Four quartets.
• Vladimir Shainsky (1925–2017): At least one string quartet.
• Boris Tchaikovsky (1925–1996): Six (1954–1976).
• Earle Brown (1926–2002): One quartet (1965).
• Paul Cooper (1926–1996): Six quartets.
• Morton Feldman (1926–1987): Structures (1951); Three Pieces (1954–1956); String Quartet No. 1 (1979), lasts about 100 minutes; String Quartet No. 2 (1983) lasts over six hours.
• Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012): Five.
• Ben Johnston (1926–2019): Ten string quartets: No 1 Nine Variations (1959); No 2 (1964); No 3 Vergings (1966); No 4 Amazing Grace (1973); No 5 (1979); No 6 (1980); No 7 (1984); No 8 (1984–86); No 9 (1987–88); and No 10 (1995). String Quartets Nos 3 and 4 may be performed together as Crossings.
• György Kurtág (born 1926): String Quartet, Op. 1, Hommage à Mihály András (12 Microludes), Op. 13, Officium breve in memorium Andreae Szervánszky, Op. 28, 6 Moments musicaux Op 44 (2005); plus, the shorter works Aus der Ferne III (1991), Aus der Ferne V (1999), Hommage à Jacob Obrecht (2004–2005), Arioso – Hommage à Walter Levin 85 (2009).
• Carlos Veerhoff (1926–2011): String quartet op.1 (1949)[66] and String quartet No.2 (1972).
• Thomas Wilson (1927–2001): Four string quartets most notably String Quartet No. 3 (1958) McEwen Composition Prize and String Quartet No. 4 (1978), as well as numerous other chamber works.
• Samuel Adler (born 1928): Ten quartets; No. 6 includes a soprano part.
• Thea Musgrave (born 1928): One string quartet (1958).
• Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928–2016): Four string quartets.
• Ezra Sims (1928–2015): First Quartet (1953); String Quartet No. 2 (1962) (1974) (really a quintet for winds and strings), Third Quartet (1962), Fourth Quartet.
• Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007): Helikopter-Streichquartett (from Mittwoch aus Licht), for string quartet in 4 helicopters.
• George Crumb (born 1929): String Quartet, and Black Angels (Images I), for electric string quartet.
• Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014): Eighteen string quartets, of which the first five are considered lost, although isolated movements have been performed and recorded; the twelfth, fourteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth quartets include optional parts for didgeridu; the thirteenth includes soprano voice.

Born in the 1930s

• Cristóbal Halffter (born 1930): Seven quartets
• Dieter Schnebel (1930–2018): Three quartets: Stücke für Streichinstrumente (1955); String Quartet No. 2 (2000–2007), which includes two vocal parts; String Quartet No. 3 ("Im Raum") (2005–2006)
• Tōru Takemitsu (1930–1996): A Way a Lone for string quartet (1981).
• Larry Austin (1930–2018): Quartet in Open Style (1964).
• Sofia Gubaidulina (born 1931): Four string quartets (1971, 1987, 1987, 1994), the last with tape.
• Mauricio Kagel (1931–2008): Five.
• Ib Nørholm (1931–2019): At least nine, No. 1 from 1954 to No. 9, his Op. 137, in 1994[67]
• James Douglas (born 1932): British Composer of 15 string quartets.
• Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (1932–2016): Fourteen quartets; the tenth and eleventh also have optional vocal ensemble parts; the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth quartets were designed to be played individually, or any two or all three simultaneously; also the Concerto Grosso for string quartet and instrument ensemble (1990/2006).
• Per Nørgård (born 1932): Ten string quartets.
• Alexander Goehr (born 1932): Four string quartets (Op. 5 (1957), Op. 23 (1967), Op. 37 (1976), Op. 52 (1990)).
• John Kinsella (born 1932): Five numbered string quartets (1960, 1968, 1977, 1993, 2013), and On Hearing Purcell and Shostakovitch at Bantry House: June 2008 (2009).
• Seóirse Bodley (born 1933): Four string quartets (1968, 1992, 2004, 2007).
• John Exton (1933–2009): Seven string quartets: No. 1 1957, No. 2 1961, No. 3 1969, No. 4 1972, No. 5 1972, No. 6 1974 and No. 7 1975.
• Henryk Górecki (1933–2010): String Quartet No. 1 ("Already It Is Dusk"), Op. 62, String Quartet No. 2 ("Quasi una Fantasia"), Op. 64; String Quartet No. 3 (Piesni Spiewaja, "...songs are sung"), Op. 67.
• Krzysztof Penderecki (1933–2020): Three string quartets (1960, 1968, 2008); Der Unterbrochene Gedanke (1984).
• R. Murray Schafer (born 1933): Thirteen string quartets, as of 2015; the seventh quartet includes a soprano part, the fourth and ninth include tape parts. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2015, Schafer composed the brief String Quartet No. 13, which he subtitled 'Alzheimer’s Masterpiece', for the Quatuor Molinari.[68]
• Harrison Birtwistle (born 1934): Nine Movements for String Quartet (1991–96), String Quartet: The Tree of Strings (2007); Hoquetus Irvinus (2013)(short work for the Arditti Quartet's fortieth anniversary); String Quartet No 3: The Silk House Sequences (2015).
• Peter Maxwell Davies (1934–2016): String Quartet in One Movement (1961); a few other shorter works; Maxwell Davies was commissioned by Naxos Records to compose ten string quartets, completed in 2007. The recordings are performed by the Maggini Quartet.
• Peter Dickinson (born 1934): Two string quartets; No 1 (1958), No 2 (1976)
• Jan Klusák (born 1934): Composed 6 string quartets to date, the first 5 in 1955–56, 1961–62, 1975, 1990, and 1994[69] and the most recent in 2003.[70]
• Roger Reynolds (born 1934): Tetra, Coconino . . . A Shattered Landscape (1985; rev. 1993),Visions (1991), Ariadne's Thread, with computer (1994).
• Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998): Four string quartets; also, Canon in Memoriam Igor Stravinsky and Variations for string quartet.
• Christian Wolff (born 1934): Summer (1960); Lines (1972); String Quartet Exercises Out of Songs (1974–76); For E.C. (2003); for two violinists, violist and 'cellist (2008); Out of Kilter (2019)
• Helmut Lachenmann (born 1935): Three string quartets: Gran Torso (1972), Reigen seliger Geister (1989), and Grido (2001), plus Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied for string quartet and orchestra.
• François-Bernard Mâche (born 1935): Eridan, String Quartet Op. 57 (1986), written for the Arditti Quartet; Moirés for string quartet and tape, Op. 73 (1994).
• Arvo Pärt (born 1935): Psalom, Summa, and arranged Fratres for string quartet.
• Terry Riley (born 1935): String Quartet (1960); returned to pre-composed notated music at the request of the Kronos Quartet in the 1970s: G Song; Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector; Cadenza on the Night Plain; Mythic Birds Waltz; Salome Dances for Peace; Requiem for Adam; The Sands for string quartet and orchestra; The Cusp of Magic for string quartet, pipa and assorted toys; Sun Rings for string quartet, choir and backing track of sounds recorded by NASA in space, and others.
• Aulis Sallinen (born 1935): Five string quartets.
• Peter Schickele (born 1935): Five string quartets, two quintets with piano.
• La Monte Young (born 1935): On Remembering a Naiad (Five small pieces)(1956); Chronos Kristalla (Time Crystals) (1990), where the quartet's strings are tuned to Just intonation, natural harmonics are played throughout, and the performance lasts about ninety minutes.
• Iván Erőd (1936–2019): Three quartets: Op. 18 (1975), Op. 26 (1978), Op. 78 (2003). Numbers 2 and 3 recorded by the ALEA Ensemble.
• Steve Reich (born 1936): Different Trains (1988), for string quartet and tape; Triple Quartet (1998), which may be performed by one quartet (with tape), three quartets, or a 36 piece orchestra; and WTC 9/11 (2009–10), for string quartet and tape.
• Herbert Blendinger (born 1936): Four quartets: Op. 11 (1957), Op. 19 (1969), Op. 29 (1976), Op. 54 (1990) – numbers 2, 3 and 4 have been recorded by the ALEA Ensemble.
• Anthony Payne (born 1936): English composer. Three quartets: No 1 (1978); No 2 (2010); No 3 (2018).
• Erich Urbanner (born 1936): Three quartets.
• Philip Glass (born 1937): Three string quartets as a student, eight mature string quartets (1966, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1991, 2013, 2014, 2018), music for string quartet for the 1931 film Dracula (1998), and the suite from Bent (2009).
• Valentyn Silvestrov (born 1937): Three quartets (1974, 1988, 2011), plus Quartetto Piccolo (1961).
• Bart Berman (born 1938): String quartet (1958); Four Melodies for string quartet (1994).
• Gloria Coates (born 1938): Nine string quartets up to 2009.
• John Corigliano (born 1938): String quartet (1995), revised for string orchestra as Symphony No. 2 (2000).
• Alvin Curran (born 1938): VSTO (1993).
• John Harbison (born 1938): Six string quartets.
• Paavo Heininen (born 1938): String Quartet No. 1, Op. 32c; String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64 ("Anadyr.mpl").
• Joan Tower (born 1938): 'Night Fields' (1994), 'In Memory' (2002), 'Incandescent' (2003).
• Charles Wuorinen (1938–2020): Four, plus the short Divertimento and Josquiniana, in six movements based on Josquin des Prés.
• Leo Brouwer (born 1939): Cuban composer, has written five quartets: String Quartet No. 1 "Homage to Béla Bartók" (1961), Rem Tene Verba Sequentur (1969), String Quartet No. 3 (1997), String Quartet No. 4 "Rem tene verba sequentur II" (2007), and String Quartet No. 5 (2011).
• Louis Andriessen (born 1939): Two string quartets.
• Jonathan Harvey (1939–2012): Four string quartets.
• Heinz Holliger (born 1939): Two (1973, 2007).
• Tom Johnson (born 1939): Formulas for String Quartet (1994) (eight short movements, each following a mathematical formula); Combinations for String Quartet (2003); Tilework (2003)
• John McCabe (1939–2015): Seven string quartets; Partita for String Quartet (No 1 – 1960), No 2 (1976), No 3 (1978), No 4 (1982), No 5 (1989), No 6 Silver Nocturnes (2011), No 7 Summer Eves (2012)
• Tomáš Svoboda (born 1939): Ten string quartets as of 2009.

Born in the 1940s

• Dorothy Rudd Moore (born 1940): Modes for string quartet (1968)
• Richard Wilson (born 1941): Five as of 2008.
• Chick Corea (born 1941): One specifically for the Orion String Quartet in 2004.
• Ingram Marshall (born 1942): Entrada (At the River) for string quartet amplified with processing, Evensongs, Voces Resonae (1984), and Fog Tropes II.
• Meredith Monk (born 1942): Stringsongs for string quartet (2004).
• Horațiu Rădulescu (1942–2008): Six string quartets; No. 4 is for quartet plus eight other quartets (live or pre-recorded) circling the audience.
• Gavin Bryars (born 1943): Three (1986 (Between the National and the Bristol), 1990, 1998)
• Krzysztof Meyer (born 1943): Thirteen (1963, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1985, 1989, 1994, 2001, 2005, 2010).
• Joanna Bruzdowicz (born 1943): Two (1983, 1988).
• Julio Estrada (born 1943): "Canto mnémico" (1973, rev. 1983), ishini'ioni (1984–1990) and "Quotidianus", with voice (2006).
• Brian Ferneyhough (born 1943): Sonatas for String Quartet (1967), String Quartets Nos. 2–6; the fourth includes a part for a soprano; also, Adagissimo (1983), Dum Transisset I-IV (2007), "Exordium – Elliotti Carteri in honorum centarii" (2008), Silentium (2014).
• David Matthews (born 1943): Fourteen up to 2017.
• Fred Lerdahl (born 1943): Three string quartets (1978/2008, 1982/2010, 2008), the third of which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2010.
• Paul Lansky (born 1944): String Quartet No. 1 (1967), String Quartet No. 2 (1971–1978), Ricercare (2000).
• Michael Nyman (born 1944): Five string quartets, plus a few smaller pieces.
• John Tavener (1944–2013): Four string quartets: The Hidden Treasure – String Quartet No. 1; The Last Sleep of the Virgin – String Quartet No. 2, for string quartet and handbells; Diódia – String Quartet No. 3; The Bridegroom – String Quartet No. 4; plus other works including parts for string quartet.
• Klaas de Vries (born 1944): One string quartet (1993).
• Colin Matthews (born 1946): Five string quartets.
• Pēteris Vasks (born 1946): Five string quartets.
• Heinz Winbeck (born 1946): Three string quartets (as of 2011), entitled Tempi capricciosi Tempi notturni (both 1979) and Jagdquartett (Hunting quartet) (1984).
• John Adams (born 1947): John's Book of Alleged Dances in 1994 for the Kronos Quartet; String Quartet No. 1 (2008); Fellow Traveler (2010); Absolute Jest (2011)(string quartet and orchestra); Second Quartet (2015).
• Nicola LeFanu (born 1947): Four quartets. No 1 (1988), No 2 (1997), No 3 (2011), No 4 (2017).
• Salvatore Sciarrino (born 1947): Sei quartetti brevi (1967–1992), as well as String Quartets No. 7 (1999) and No. 8 (2008).
• Marjan Mozetich (born 1948): Changes (1971); Lament in the Trampled Garden (1992), the compulsory piece for the 1992 Banff String Quartet Competition.
• Peter Ruzicka (born 1948): Seven quartets; the fourth includes a part for a speaker; the sixth includes a part for a soprano.
• Julia Tsenova (1948–2010): String Quartet No. 1 (2003).
• Dave Smith (born 1949): Six string quartets: No. 1 Cuban quartet (1990/2014); No. 2 Natural selections (2009/10); No. 3 African mosaic (2014); No. 4 After Albania (2014); No. 5 All this and less (2014); No. 6 The myth of Sisyphus (2014)
• Kevin Volans (born 1949): twelve string quartets, plus a short quartet movement.

Born in the 1950s

• Vladimir Anisimoff (born 1950): String Quartet Chaconne (1974).
• James Dillon (born 1950). Scottish composer. Nine quartets: No 1 (1983); No 2 (1991); No 3 (1998); No 4 (2005); No 5 (2009); No 6 (2010); No 7 (2013); No 8 (2017); No 9 (2018).
• Alistair Hinton (born 1950): One quartet (1999)
• Lorenzo Ferrero (born 1951): Set of twelve string quartets entitled Tempi di quartetto (1996–98); Five Aztec Gods (2005).
• Aleksander Lasoń (born 1951): Eight quartets, as of 2019.
• George Tsontakis (born 1951): Five string quartets (1980–2006).[71]
• Lois V Vierk (born 1951): Into the brightening air (1994/1999), dedicated to Mel Powell and River Beneath the River (1993).
• Hans Abrahamsen (born 1952): String Quartet No. 1 "Ten Preludes" (1973); String Quartet No. 2 (1981), String Quartet No. 3 (2010), String Quartet No. 4 (2012).
• Simon Bainbridge (born 1952): String Quartet (1972).
• Reinhard Febel (born 1952): String Quartet (1981/82).
• Bunita Marcus (born 1952): The Rugmaker (1986).
• Wolfgang Rihm (born 1952): Thirteen quartets, as of 2012, plus the elegical, "Grave" (2010)(in memory of Thomas Kakuska, late violist of the Alban Berg Quartet).
• Kaija Saariaho (born 1952): Nymphea (Jardin Secret III) (1987) for string quartet and live electronics, Terra Memorium (2012).
• John Luther Adams (born 1953): The Wind in High Places (2011); Dream of the Canyon Wren (2013); untouched (2015); Canticles of the Sky (2015); Everything That Rises (2017); Lines Made by Walking (2019)
• Georg Friedrich Haas (born 1953): Ten quartets, plus the short LAIR, written for the Arditti Quartet's fortieth anniversary. Quartets 3, 9, and 10 were meant to be performed in absolute darkness.
• John Zorn (born 1953): Forbidden Fruit for voice, string quartet & turntables (1987), Cat o' Nine Tails (or, Tex Avery Directs the Marquis de Sade) (1988), The Dead Man (1990), Memento Mori (1992), Kol Nidre (1996), Necronomicon (2003), The Alchemist (2011); Pandora's Box (2014)(includes soprano part), The Remedy of Fortune (2015).
• Joël-François Durand (born 1954): One quartet (2005).
• Beat Furrer (born 1954): Three (1984, 1988, 2004).
• Robert Greenberg (born 1954): Five string quartets: Breaths, Voices, and Cadenze (String Quartet No. 1) (1982); Child's Play (String Quartet No. 2) (1988); Among Friends (String Quartet No. 3) (1995); Snappy Rejoinder (String Quartet No. 4) (2005); It's Snowing (String Quartet No. 5) (2011)
• Arturo Rodas (born 1954) Ecuadorian composer, A – B – C – D (1989); Fuga Atonal II (2008).[72]
• Sinan Savaskan (born 1954): Three quartets; his third quartet, Panic in Needle Park is for string quartet and for channel electro acoustic music.
• Carl Vine (born 1954) Australian composer, six string quartets to date: Knips Suite (String Quartet No. 1) (1979); String Quartet No. 2 (1984); String Quartet No. 3 (1994); String Quartet No. 4 (2004); String Quartet No. 5 (2010); String Quartet No. 6 (Child's Play)(2017).
• John Woolrich (born 1954): Two quartets.
• David A. Jaffe (born 1955): Five quartets: Telegram to the President (1984); Grass Valley Fire (1988); Quiet Places (1996); Fox Hollow (2013); Eight O's in Wooloomooloo (2014, with contralto voice).
• Pascal Dusapin (born 1955): Seven quartets (1982, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2005, 2009, 2010); his sixth quartet is for string quartet and orchestra.
• Nigel Keay (born 1955): Two quartets (1983, 1995).[73]
• Peter Thompson (born 1955). British composer. Seven quartets. No 1 (1993); No 2 Integration (1997); No 3 Biblical Studies (2001); No 4 (2005); No 5 (2009); No 6 (2014); No 7 (2019).
• Sally Beamish (born 1956): Scottish composer. String Quartet No 1 (1999); String Quartet No 2, opus California (1999); String Quartet No 3, Reed Stanzas (2011).
• Miguel del Aguila (born 1957): Three quartets: Presto II (1993); Life is a Dream (1995), recorded by Camerata San Antonio (CD Salon Buenos Aires).
• James Clarke (born 1957): Four quartets; No 1 (2003), No 2 (2009), No 3 (2014), No 4 (2017)
• Bob Ostertag (born 1957): All the Rage (1992).
• Gerhard Präsent (born 1957): Four quartets: Music for Strings (1977/78); La Tâche (1994/95), Missa (2001); Big Apple (2007/08) – numbers 2, 3 and 4 recorded by the ALEA Ensemble.
• Davide Verotta (born 1958): Bronze Chasm 1 & 2 (2015–16) String Quartet No.3 (2018) String Quartet No.4, Incandescent (2019) String Quartet No.6, Straight Arrow (2020) String Quartet No.7, Solitari(2020) - Link to Scores and Recordings at IMSLP
• Rodney Waschka II (born 1958): String Quartet: Laredo (1999) String Quartet: Ha! Fortune (2003) both recorded by the Nevsky String Quartet on Capstone Records.
• Julia Wolfe (born 1958): Released an album of string quartets, The String Quartets: Dig Deep, Four Marys, and Early that summer (1991).
• Lawrence Dillon (born 1959): Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle – String Quartet No. 1: Jests and Tenderness (1998); String Quartet No. 2: Flight (2002); String Quartet No. 3: Air (2005); String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere (2009); String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night (2009); String Quartet No. 6: REM (2014).
• James MacMillan (born 1959): Scottish composer, three string quartets.
• Shigeru Kan-no (born 1959): Japanese composer, ten string quartets as of 2008.
• Robert Scott Thompson (born 1959): American composer. Dissipative Structures for String Quartet (1981), premiere by Harvard String Quartet, Cabrillo Music Festival. First Prize in open competition.

Born in the 1960s

• Aaron Jay Kernis (born 1960): Three string quartets: No. 1 Musica celestis (1990), No. 2 Musica instrumentalis (1998), No. 3 River (2015). He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Quartet No. 2.
• Hanspeter Kyburz (born 1960): One string quartet (2004–05).
• William Susman (born 1960): Four string quartets.
• Ezequiel Viñao (born 1960): Three quartets, as of 2009: La Noche de las Noches (1989);[74] The Loss and the Silence (2004)[75] and Sirocco Dust (2009).[76]
• Nicolas Bacri (born 1961): Nine string quartets: String Quartet No. 1 Op. 1 "Fantaisie" (1980), String Quartet No. 2 Op. 5 "5 Pieces" (1982), String Quartet No. 3 Op. 18 "Esquisses pour un Tombeau" (1985–89), String Quartet No. 4 Op. 42 "Omaggio a Beethoven" (1989–94), String Quartet No. 5 Op. 57 (1997), String Quartet No. 6 Op. 97 (2005–06), String Quartet No. 7 Op. 101 "Variations sérieuses" (2006–07), String Quartet No. 8 Op. 112 "Omaggio a Haydn" (2008–09), String Quartet No. 9 Op. 140 "Canto di speranza", (2015).
• Jorge Grundman (born 1961): Fragment for String Quartet (2004), Surviving a Son's Suicide (2009), God's Sketches for String Quartet, Soprano and Mallets (2012), On Blondes and Detectives. Cliché Music for String Quartet (2012), A Mortuis Resurgere: The Resurrection of Chris for Soprano and String Quartet (2013) and The Propagation of Faith (2014).
• Lowell Liebermann (born 1961): Five string quartets: String Quartet No. 1, Op. 5 (1979), String Quartet No. 2, Op. 60 (1998), String Quartet No. 3, Op. 102 (2007), String Quartet No. 4, Op. 103 (2007), and String Quartet No.5 Op. 126 (2014).
• Edgar Meyer (born 1961): Released an album mostly of string quartets, Short Trip Home (1999).
• Michael Torke (born 1961): Great Crossing (1996), Chalk (1992), Corner in Manhattan (2000).
• Jennifer Higdon (born 1962): Seven string quartets: Autumn's Cricket (1987), Voices (1993), Sky Quartet (1997 revised 2001), Amazing Grace (2003), Impressions (2003), Southern Harmony (2003), and An Exultation of Larks (2005).
• Eric Sawyer (born 1962): American composer; 3 string quartets. Album: Albany Records, 2005, String Quartet 2 (1999), String Quartet 3 (2002).
• Laura Schwendinger (born 1962): Two string quartets:"String Quartet in Three Movements" (2001), Creature Quartet (2015)
• Fredrik Sixten (born 1962): Chaconne (2007) recorded by the Swedish radio. "Contrasts" for string quartet (1984).
• Andersen Viana (born 1962): Five quartets (1984, 1990, 1990, 1996, 1998).
• Graham Waterhouse (born 1962): composed string quartets, including Hungarian Polyphony (1986), Chinese Whispers (2010), Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Alcatraz (2014), among others.
• Graham Fitkin (born 1963): Servant (1992); A Small Quartet (1993); Another Small Quartet (1993); Pawn (2005); Inside (2006); String (2008); Informal Dance (2010).
• Sophie Lacaze (born 1963): Het Lam Gods (2005).
• Matthew Davidson (born 1964): Three string quartets: Music for String Quartet (1988);[77] I Had Five Long Years (1991);[78] Quartetto dell'Arte (2012).
• John Pickard (born 1964): five quartets; No 1 (1991), No 2 (1993), No 3 (1994), No 4 (1998), No 5 (2012)
• Matthew Taylor (born 1964): eight quartets; No 1 (1984), No 2 (1990), No 3 (1995), No 4 (1999), No 5 (2007), No 6 (2008), No 7 (2009), No 8 (2017)
• Ian Wilson (born 1964): Twenty-one string quartets; No 1 Winter's Edge (1992), No 2 The Capsizing Man and other stories (1994), No 3 Towards the far country (1997), No 4 Veer (2000), No 5 wander, darkling (2000), No 6 In fretta, in vento (2001), No 7 Lyric Suite (2004), No 8 unbroken white line (2007), No 9 heaven lay close (2009), No 10 Across a clear blue sky (2009), No 11 im Schatten (2010), No 12 Her charms invited (2010), No 13 Still life in green and red (2011), No 14 Tribe (2013), No 15 Alluvio (2014) No 16 Aus der Zauberküche (2014), No 17 Linte (2016), No 18 Up Above the World (2018), No 19 Rossiniana (2018), No 20 Capital (2019), No 21 Ground Out (2019)
• Vanessa Lann (born 1968): "Lullabye for a Young Girl Dreaming" (1990); "Landscape of a Soul's Remembering" (2006).
• James Francis Brown (born 1969): British composer. One string quartet (2010).[79]
• Nimrod Borenstein (born 1969). Meditation and Burlesque opus 43 (2013); Lullaby opus 81b (2018); Cieli d' Italia opus 88 (2019).
• Peter Fribbins (born 1969): British composer. Two string quartets: String Quartet No. 1 I have the serpent brought (1990–98 rev. 2002–04); String Quartet No. 2 After Cromer (2006).[80]
• Enno Poppe (born 1969): German composer. Tier (2002) for string quartet.
• Jonathan Powell (born 1969): Two quartets.
• Eric Sessler (born 1969): American composer. String Quartet (2012–13).

Born in the 1970s

• Donnacha Dennehy (born 1970): Irish composer, Ecstasis, full stop (1999), Counting (2000), Pushpulling (2007), Stamp (2008), One Hundred Goodbyes (2011), The Weather of It (2016).
• Ralph Farris (born 1970): American composer, 2fer (2008), Wreck'd (2009), Factions (2013).
• David Horne (born 1970): Surrendering to the Stream (1993), Undulations (1996), Subterfuge (), String Quartet No. 3 Flight from the Labyrinth (2005), String Quartet No. 4 (2006).
• Fred Momotenko (born 1970): Russian-Dutch composer, Liquid pArTs (2005), Essere preso nel gorgo della passione (2008) for string quartet and percussion.
• Thomas Adès (born 1971): British composer, Arcadiana (1994), The Four Quarters (2010).
• Richard Carrick (born 1971): French-American composer, Adagios for Strings (2010).
• Lior Navok (born 1971): Israeli composer, Voices from India (String Quartet No. 1) (1997), Hope Cycles (String Quartet No. 2) (2004), Whispered Questions (String Quartet No. 3) (2010).
• Yitzhak Yedid (born 1971): Israeli composer, 'Visions, Fantasies and Dances' 60 minutes in 7 parts (2007).
• Craig Walsh (born 1971): American composer, 'String Quartet No. 1' (2010).
• Edward Top (born 1972): Two string quartets (1998, 2002).
• Lera Auerbach (born 1973): String Strings No. 1, String Quartet No. 2 Primera Luz (2005), String Quartet No. 3 Cetera Desunt (2006), String Quartet No. 4 Findings – 16 Inventions (2007), String Quartet No. 5 Songs of Alkonost (2011), String Quartet No. 6 Farewell (2012), String Quartet No. 7 Désir (2013), String Quartet No. 8 Sylvia's's Diary (2013).
• Yalil Guerra (born 1973): Cuba-American composer, two string quartets: String Quartet No. 1, "A Mill Guerras Solo"[81] and String Quartet No. 2[82]
• Henry Vega (born 1973): American composer, The motion of arrayed emotion (2011), for string quartet and computers.
• Jörg Widmann (born 1973): German composer, five one-movement string quartets (1997–2005) that form a cycle.
• Airat Ichmouratov (born 1973). Russian/Canadian composer. Four quartets. No 1 (2003); No 2 (2004); No 3 (2010); No 4 (2013)[83]
• Jefferson Friedman (born 1974): American composer, three string quartets (1996, 1999, 2005).
• Joseph Phibbs (born 1974). English composer. Three quartets. No 1 (2014); No 2 (2015); No 3 (2018).
• R. Luke DuBois (born 1975): American composer, Hard Data (2009).
• David Philip Hefti (born 1975): Swiss composer, Ph(r)asen – String Quartet No. 1 (2007); Guggisberg-Variationen – String Quartet No. 2 (2008); Mobile – String Quartet No. 3 (2011); con fuoco – String Quartet No. 4 (2011); Concubia nocte - Music for the Second Nocturnal Vigil - String Quartet No. 5 (2018).
• Svitlana Azarova (born 1976): Ukrainian/Dutch composer, Hotel Charlotte (2005), for string quartet.
• Kasia Glowicka (born 1976): Polish composer, "Springs and Summers" (1999), for string quartet and countertenor, music set to Shakespeare's sonnets.
• Yotam Haber (born 1976): American composer, Torus (2012),[84] From the Book (2016)[85]
• David Flynn (born 1977): Irish composer, three string quartets to date. String Quartet No. 1 "Fairground Attractions" (2003), String Quartet No. 2 "The Cranning" (2004–2005), String Quartet No. 3 "The Keening" (2007), Flynn received the 2004 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival Composers Award for "Slip", the first movement of his Quartet No. 2.
• Jimmy Lopez (born 1978): Peruvian composer, string quartet "La Caresse du Couteau" (2004).
• Joseph Hallman (born 1979): Philadelphia composer, many string quartets for multiple groups, including "the not-so-magnificent cadaver", "musings", and "compliments". Also notable are his transcriptions of contemporary pop songs for gospel singer and string quartet.
• Dinesh Subasinghe (born 1979): Sri Lankan composer, string quartet "Night Before the Battle" (2011).

Born in the 1980s

• Helen Grime (born 1981): String Quartet No 1 (2014)
• Jessie Montgomery (born 1981): American composer, Strum (2006; revised 2012), Voodoo Dolls (2008), Break Away (2013), Source Code (2014).
• Richard Zarou (born 1981): American composer, String Quartet "Retreating From the Light" (2003).
• Prach Boondiskulchok (born 1985): Thai-British composer, "Ritus" (2018)
• Mohammed Fairouz (born 1985): American composer. Lamentation and Satire (2008), Chorale Fantasy (2010) and The Named Angels (2012).
• Caroline Shaw (born 1982): American composer. Punctum (2009, revised 2013), Entr'acte (2011), Valencia (2012), Plan & Elevation: The Grounds of Dumbarton Oaks (2015), Blueprint (2016), First Essay: Nimrod (2016), Second Essay: Echo and Third Essay: Ruby (2018).
• Freya Waley-Cohen (born 1989): American composer based in London, String Quartet (2017)

Born in the 1990s

• Caio Facó (born 1992): Cangaceiros e Fanáticos (2018)[86]
• Edward W. Hardy (born 1992): American composer. Evil Eye, A Fantasy (second and third movements from "Three Pieces Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe (2018).[87] Vengeance (2018).[88] Flying (Dancing in Spanish Harlem) (2019).[89] Strange Fruit (2020).[90]

See also

• List of piano composers

References

1. "Scarlatti A. – Sonata a quattro n. 4 in Re minore". Gagliano String Quartet. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2017-08-06. Sonata a Quattro, D minor
2. "Scarlatti 4 Sonate".
3. Signum Quartet (19 January 2014). "Telemann: Sonata á Violino I, Violino II, Viola e Violono". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-06-17. TWV 40:200, A major
4. I Solisti di Zagreb & Antonio Janigro (3 November 2014). "Sonata á Violino I, Violino II, Viola e Violono, TWV 40:200: i. Affetuoso – YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
5. I Solisti di Zagreb & Antonio Janigro (3 November 2014). "Sonata á Violino I, Violino II, Viola e Violono, TWV 40:200: ii. Allegro – YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
6. "Sonata á Violino I, Violino II, Viola e Violono, TWV 40:200: iii. Vivace – YouTube". youtube.com. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
7. Hill, George Robert (1976). A thematic catalog of the instrumental music of Florian Leopold Gassmann. J. Boonin. ISBN 0-913574-12-0.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. http://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/v/vachon_pierre.html musicologie.org
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-04-11. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. Parker, Mara (2017-07-05). The String Quartet, 1750–1797: Four Types of Musical Conversation. ISBN 9781351540285.
12. "Cayetano Brunetti (1744–1798)".
13. "6 String Quartets, Op.1 (Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne) – IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download".
14. "6 String Quartets 'au gout de jour' (Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne) – IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download".
15. http://www.lexnet.dk/quartets/c-quarte.htm
16. "6 String Quartets, Op.21 (Förster, Emanuel Aloys) – IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download".
17. http://www.musicweb-international.com/Redcliffe/wesley.htm
18. "Classical Net – Reicha – the String Quartets".
19. Audivis Valois & ASV CD notes
20. Note: Küffner: unless two or more of these are the same work under multiple Op. numbers, of course. Unlikely but possible.
21. "Swedish Musical Heritage – Joachim Nicolas Eggert".
22. "String Quartet in G minor, Op.2 No.2 (Eggert, Joachim Nicolas) – IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download".
23. http://www.cvnc.org/reviews/2002/march/ArtariaString.html this concert notice
24. Subject of Charles Hommann: Chamber Music for Strings (Recent Researches in American Music, Volume 30)
25. http://www.lexnet.dk/quartets/h-quarte.htm
26. Stowell, Robin; Cross, Jonathan (2003-11-13). The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet. ISBN 9780521000420.
27. "Review".
28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
29. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2004-09-10. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
30. "Emanuel und Henrik Moór Stiftung Werkverzeichnis" (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2009.
31. "JENNER Quartets [RB]: Classical CD Reviews- Sept 2002 MusicWeb(UK)".
32. "RYELANDT, Joseph" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
33. http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/0/6974ee061c4ad603c2256e6700454bcf?OpenDocument
34. See https://books.google.com/books?id=RJYSwPwYwO0C&pg=PA38 from "Wiederentdeckt: Margarete Depner (1885–1970)".
35. see OCLC 724431562, OCLC 163209107 and OCLC 163209096 e.g.
36. Cello.org
37. See OCLC 1033272, OCLC 1033273 and notes to Naxos recording of the quartets.
38. List of Respighi Works @ IMSLP
39. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
40. minuet- OCLC 55208436, published in 2002
41. published ca.1915 by Grosse – see IMSLP
42. published in 1990 – OCLC 34786185
43. Davison, Stephen (1987). The music of Karl Weigl (1881–1949) : a catalog.
44. Weigl Finding Aids @ Yale
45. http://www.joseph-marx.org/en/list.html#list
46. "Home".
47. Bax work catalog 1896–1904
48. Note re Martinů's quartets: no.1 is very slightly incomplete (the score shows a completion of the very last bars was needed), while a 1917 quartet "H. 103", once thought lost, has proved possible to reconstruct.
49. http://www.schott-music.com/shop/products/show,137823.html
50. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
51. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-02-12. Retrieved 2005-03-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
52. "Hanns EISLER – Quatuor Johannes [IL]: Classical CD Reviews- Oct 2003 MusicWeb(UK)".
53. http://allenoten.de/index.php?link=http%3A//allenoten.de/cgi-bin/search2a.cgi%3Fpnum%3D11869
54. Apostel's complete output for string quartet has been recorded, along with some relevant interviews, on a several-CD set on the Cybele label; there are some other such sets on that label devoted to the quartet output of other composers of the period, taking a similar approach.
55. http://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/s/sauguet_henri.html
56. See OCLC 174273920, OCLC 817839678 and OCLC 80381050.)
57. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-09-10. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
58. http://thiasos.de/kurt-hessenberg-werkverzeichnis.htm
59. "Alan Hovhaness List of Chamber Music Works".
60. http://www.editionsilvertrust.com/filippenko-string-quartet-2.htm EditionSilvertrust
61. Information from notes to recording of quartets 3 and 4, and from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-04-25. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
62. https://web.archive.org/web/20060202034053/http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/vainberg.htm
63. "20th century violin concertante – Grove, Stefans".
64. "The Cypress Quartet Remembers Benjamin Lees (1924–2010)". 2010-06-03.
65. Introductions to the scores published by Compozitor Publishing House, Saint-Petersburg, 2007
66. "20th century violin concertante – Veerhoff, Carlos".
67. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2006-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Library of Congress listing of publication has Op. No.
68. "THE SCOOP | Powering On: R. Murray Schafer Works Through a Major Health Challenge". 2016-07-05.
69. See OCLC 39388218, Klusák's first 5 string quartets, recording
70. See "Šimon Matoušek – Studio MATOUŠ E-Shop MK-0059". Studio Matouš. Retrieved 16 November 2014. Description and Track Listing of recording of Klusák's 6th string quartet, with brief description of the work itself
71. http://www.presser.com/Composers/info.cfm?Name=GEORGETSONTAKIS#Works Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine Tsontakis Worklist at Presser
72. Periferia Music, Barcelona Publisher
73. "Nigel Keay – String Quartet No.2".
74. "Ezequiel Vinao la Noche de las Noches".
75. "Ezequiel Vinao the Loss and the Silence".
76. "Ezequiel Vinao Sirocco Dust".
77. "Music for string quartet".
78. http://composers.com/composition/i-had-five-long-years
79. Tirimo, F. (no date) Works – String Quartet. See http://www.jamesfrancisbrown.com/works/work.asp?workid=313&order=catdate (Accessed: 13 October 2015)
80. Composer (2009). See http://www.peterfribbins.co.uk/repertoire.html (Accessed: 13 October 2015)
81. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcQN-DRbvfo
82. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wEwafvyEL8
83. https://www.ludwig-van.com/montreal/2018/03/17/critique-nouveau-quatuor-a-cordes-orford-les-nouveaux-chemins-de-la-musique-dici/
84. Panozzo, Angelina. "Torus by Yotam Haber: Adventurous and Eclectic Sounds". icareifyoulisten.com.
85. "Kronos | Yotam Haber". KRONOS QUARTET.ORG. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
86. "Encomendas Osesp 2018". osesp.art.br. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
87. "Three Pieces Inspired By Edgar Allan Poe / Edward W Hardy [notated music]". loc.gov/. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
88. "Vengeance / Edward W Hardy [notated music]". loc.gov/. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
89. "Flying (Dancing in Spanish Harlem) / Edward W Hardy [notated music]". loc.gov/. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
90. "Video: Listen To Edward W. Hardy's Haunting String Quartet Arrangement Of "Strange Fruit"". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2020-05-15.