The Cabinet of Curiosities—The String Quartet in the USA after 1950

Abstract

In this article, we survey the achievement of selected American composers in the genre of the string quartet from 1950 onward. We propose a qualitative assessment of this ‘visible’ repertory from the point of view of neutral yet passionate observers, positioned comfortably ‘outside looking in’. Then, in the closing section of the study, we focus our attention on the lesser-known, ‘hidden’ body of American quartets nonetheless of value.