String quartet of divertimenti for two solo violins, viola and cello by Viennese composers such as Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Ignaz Holzbauer; and there had long been a tradition of performing orchestral works with one instrument to a part. David Wyn Jones cites the widespread practice of playing works written for string orchestra, such as divertimenti and serenades, with just four players, one to a part, there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century. However, these composers showed no interest in exploring the development of the string quartet as a medium. The origins of the string
Borromeo String Quartet Borromeo String Quartet The Borromeo String Quartet is an American string quartet, in residence at the New England Conservatory since 1992. They have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, at numerous festivals and in many distinguished chamber music series. They are named after the Borromean Islands. The ensemble was formed in 1989 by violinists Nicholas Kitchen and Ruggero Allifranchini, violist EnSik Choi, and cellist Yeesun Kim, who were then all young musicians at the Curtis Institute of Music. Kitchen and Kim are husband and wife. Violist Hsin-Yun Huang joined the ensemble in 1994 after Choi left to