String Quartet (Webern) String Quartet (Webern) The String Quartet, Op. 28 by Anton Webern is written for the standard string quartet group of two violins, viola and cello. It was the last piece of chamber music that Webern wrote (his other late works include two cantatas Op. 29/31 and the "Variations for Orchestra, Op. 30"). The work was initially planned in November 1936 and was premiered at the Coolidge Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on September 22, 1938 in response to a commission that year from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. It is in three movements: The String Quartet is atonal, and is composed using the
Walden String Quartet the United States. The quartet remained there until it disbanded in the late 1970s. In 1949, the quartet was selected by the civil affairs division of the U.S. war department to tour Austria and Germany, as well as Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, and finally London, where they performed Quartet No.2 by Wallingford Riegger and Charles Ives's Second String Quartet. The group premiered many 20th Century works including Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 1, which was dedicated to them. Walden String Quartet The Walden String Quartet was a chamber music ensemble formed in 1934 by members of the Cleveland Orchestra. It was