String quartet Violini, Violetta [viola], e Violoncello senza Cembalo" (Sonata for four instruments: two violins, viola, and cello without harpsichord), this was a natural evolution from the existing tradition. The string quartet in its now accepted form came about with Haydn. If the combination of two violins, viola and cello was not unknown before Haydn, when it occurred in chamber music it was more likely through circumstance than conscious design; certainly the string quartet enjoyed no recognized status as an ensemble in the way that two violins with basso continuo – the so-called 'trio sonata' – had for more than a hundred
Atrium String Quartet Atrium String Quartet Atrium String Quartet is a Russian string quartet and one of the leading young ensembles. Quartet founded in 2000 in St Petersburg. Atrium Quartet is the prize-winner of several International Competitions including First Prizes of IX London International String Quartet Competition in 2003 and VII Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2007. Recordings (EMI, Zig-Zag Territoires, Oclassica, Columna Musica, Profil Haenssler) of the quartet include works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Yuri Falik and Jordi Cervelló (his "A Bach" and "St Petersburg" quartets dedicated to the members of the Atrium Quartet). In 2013 Quartet