String Quartet No. 2 (Smetana) The composition was at first received by the part of listeners and critics with hesitation, and even with objections. However, thanks to many successful interpretations (Czech Quartet, Smetana Quartet, Janáček Quartet etc.) the quartet today belongs to the great values of Czech music history and culture. String Quartet No. 2 (Smetana) Bedřich Smetana's String Quartet No. 2 in D minor is a chamber composition for string quartet. It's Smetana's last quartet. In June 1882, after composing the monumental cycle Má vlast, operas Tajemství, Čertova stěna and other works, Smetana began thinking about the creation of his second string quartet. A
String Quartet (Franck) influential musicians including Jacques Offenbach. Although Franck abandoned his string quartet, he resumed in 1888, and, as d'Indy recalled, he learned the scores of string quartets by Beethoven and Schubert on his piano for intensive study. Many elements of Franck's string quartet are considered to stem from Beethoven's later works, but traces of Beethoven are not superficially visible. The String Quartet was Franck’s first public success during his life. Franck, known as a late-flowering composer, had attracted little attention from audiences. Even the Symphony D minor and the "Prélude, Aria et Final", whose reputation is well established today, were disastrously