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
Philadelphia String Quartet by Violist Radhames Santos. A new web site has been made: Philadelphia String Quartet Philadelphia String Quartet The Philadelphia String Quartet was an American string quartet started in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The string quartet was started in 1959-60 by four members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who later broke off from the orchestra and accepted residency in Washington. Alan Iglitzin, the founding violist of the quartet, later went on to found the Olympic Music Festival near Quilcene, Washington. The original founding members of the Philadelphia String Quartet were Alan Iglitzin (viola), Irwin Eisenberg (second violin), Charles Brennand (cello), and Veda Reynolds (first