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
String Quartet No. 1 (Shostakovich) which clashes with the happy mood in the exciting development, which leads to the vibrant recapitulation and coda. The ending bars are an impressive climax, with the viola and cello playing rapid notes in their lowest registers while the violins hammer out C major chords above. String Quartet No. 1 (Shostakovich) Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 49, was composed in six weeks during the summer of 1938. It carries no dedication. This string quartet has none of the bravura of the fifth symphony which preceded it. Instead, the composer seemed to have discovered a new