Editing Quartet (section)

==Classical==
===String quartet===
{{Main|String quartet}}
[[Image:String quartet.JPG|right|thumb|A string quartet in performance. From left to right - violin 1, violin 2, cello, viola]]

In [[classical music]], one of the most common combinations of four instruments in [[chamber music]] is the string quartet.<ref name=HDM-Q>{{cite journal|last=Apel|first=Willi|title=Quartet|journal=Harvard Dictionary of Music|year=1975|volume=Second|isbn=0-674-37501-7|pages=711|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/harvarddictionar0000apel}}</ref> String quartets most often consist of two [[violin]]s, a [[viola]], and a [[cello]]. The particular choice and number of instruments derives from the registers of the human voice: [[soprano]], [[alto (voice)|alto]], [[tenor]] and [[Bass (voice type)|bass]] ([[SATB]]). In the string quartet, two violins play the soprano and alto vocal registers, the viola plays the tenor register and the cello plays the bass register.

Composers of notable string quartets include [[Joseph Haydn]] ([[List of string quartets by Joseph Haydn|68 compositions]]), [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] (23), [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] (16), [[Franz Schubert]] (15), [[Felix Mendelssohn]] (6), [[Johannes Brahms]] (3), [[Antonín Dvořák]] (14), [[Alexander Borodin]] (2), [[Béla Bartók]] (6), [[Elizabeth Maconchy]] (13), [[Darius Milhaud]] (18), [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]] (17), and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (15).<ref name=HDM-Q /> The Italian composer [[Luigi Boccherini]] (1743–1805), wrote 91 string quartets.

Less often, string quartets are written for other combinations of the standard string ensemble. These include quartets for one violin, two violas, and one cello, notably by [[Carl Stamitz]] (6 compositions) and others; and for one violin, one viola, and two cellos, by [[Johann Georg Albrechtsberger]] and others.

===Piano quartet===
{{Main|Piano quartet}}
Another common standard classical quartet is the [[piano quartet]], usually consisting of violin, viola, cello, and [[piano]]. [[Romantic composer]]s Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn each wrote three important compositions in this form, and Mozart, Dvořák, and [[Gabriel Fauré]] each wrote two.<ref name=HDM-Q /> [[Olivier Messiaen]]'s [[Quatuor pour la fin du temps|''Quartet for the End of Time'']] substitutes [[clarinet]] for viola.

===Other instrumental quartets===
{{Main|Wind quartet}}

Wind quartets are scored either the same as a string quartet with the [[wind instrument]] replacing the first violin (i.e. scored for wind, violin, viola and cello) or are groups of four wind instruments. Among the latter, the SATB format [[woodwind quartet]] of [[flute]], [[oboe]], clarinet, and [[bassoon]] is relatively common.

An example of a wind quartet featuring four of the same types of wind instruments is the [[saxophone quartet]], consisting of [[soprano saxophone]], [[alto saxophone]], [[tenor saxophone]] and [[baritone saxophone]]. Often a second alto may be substituted for the soprano part or a [[bass saxophone]] may be substituted for the baritone.{{cn|date=February 2020}}

===Vocal quartet<!--[[vocal quartet]] redirects directly here.-->===
Compositions for four singers have been written for quartets [[a cappella]]; accompanied by instruments, such as a piano; and accompanied by larger vocal forces, such as a [[choir]]. Brahms and Schubert wrote numerous pieces for four voices that were once popular in private salons, although they are seldom performed today. Vocal quartets also feature within larger classical compositions, such as [[opera]], choral works, and [[Symphony|symphonic]] compositions. The final movement of [[Beethoven's Ninth Symphony]] and [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s ''[[Requiem (Verdi)|Messa da Requiem]]'' are two examples of renowned concert works that include vocal quartets.

Typically, a vocal quartet is composed of:
* Soprano, alto (or [[mezzo-soprano]]), tenor, and bass (or [[baritone]]), for mixed ensembles; or
* 1st tenor, 2nd tenor, baritone, and bass, for male groups; or
* 1st soprano, 2nd soprano, mezzo-soprano, and [[contralto]], for female groups; or
* Tenor, lead, baritone, and bass, for [[Barbershop music|barbershop style]] (both male and female).

===Baroque quartet===
The [[baroque music|baroque]] quartet is a form of music composition similar to the [[trio sonata]], but with four [[part (music)|music parts]] performed by three solo melodic instruments and [[basso continuo]]. The solo instruments could be [[String instrument|strings]] or wind instruments.

Examples of baroque quartets are [[Georg Philipp Telemann]]'s [[Paris quartets]].