String quartet of divertimenti for two solo violins, viola and cello by Viennese composers such as Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Ignaz Holzbauer; and there had long been a tradition of performing orchestral works with one instrument to a part. David Wyn Jones cites the widespread practice of playing works written for string orchestra, such as divertimenti and serenades, with just four players, one to a part, there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century. However, these composers showed no interest in exploring the development of the string quartet as a medium. The origins of the string
Alexander String Quartet Alexander String Quartet The Alexander String Quartet is a string quartet based in San Francisco. Formed in New York in 1981, the Alexander String Quartet has since 1989 been Ensemble in Residence of San Francisco Performances and directors of the Morrison Chamber Music Center in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. In 1982, the Alexander String Quartet was the first string quartet to win the Concert Artists Guild competition. In 1985, the Alexander String Quartet was the first American string quartet to win the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition (now the Wigmore Hall London