String trio String trio A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. The term is generally used with reference to works of chamber music from the Classical period to the present. From at least the 19th century on, the term "string trio" with otherwise unspecified instrumentation normally refers to the combination violin, viola and cello (cf "string quartet", "piano trio" etc.). This is how the term is used by major catalogs, including IMSLP. The earliest string-trio form, found in the early Classical period, consisted of two violins and a cello, a grouping
Hampton String Quartet Hampton String Quartet The Hampton String Quartet, considered by many to be one of the founders of the "alternative music" genré of chamber music, is a string quartet specializing in rock music and other popular styles, playing serious chamber music arrangements of songs using classical composer influences and frequently quoting or paraphrasing snippets from their works. For example, their arrangement of "Earth Angel" is a paraphrase of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D, and Reed's "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" quotes Franz Schubert's "Erlkönig." According to the liner notes of their 1986 debut album, "What if Mozart wrote 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,'"