Quartet Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices or instruments. In Classical music, the most important combination of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quartets most often consist of two violins, a viola, and a cello. The particular choice and number of instruments derives from the registers of the human voice: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. In the string quartet, two violins play the soprano and alto vocal registers, the viola plays the tenor register and
Curtis String Quartet Curtis String Quartet The Curtis String Quartet was an American string quartet based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The quartet as an entity was formed in 1932 with initial members Jascha Brodsky, Benjamin Sharlip (violins), Max Aronoff (viola), and Orlando Cole (cello). After Sharlip's departure in 1934 to join the Philadelphia Orchestra, the position was filled by Charles Jaffe; it was with him that they achieved many of their earliest milestones. The ensemble's origins are actually a bit earlier: they were initially called the Swastika Quartet upon their founding as students in 1927, with Gama Gilbert and Benjamin Sharlip as violinists, Sheppard