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
RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, also known as the RTÉ String Quartet is the resident string quartet to Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcasting service, and collectively artists in residence to University College Cork. The Quartet members are also founders of the internationally acclaimed West Cork Chamber Music Festival. The quartet comprises Gregory Ellis and Keith Pascoe on violins, Simon Aspell on viola and Christopher Marwood with cello. It is part of RTÉ Performing Groups. The RTÉ Quartet was founded in 1985 and won the London International String Quartet Competition in 1988. It is one of Europe's most successful