Editing String sextet

{{for|the ballet by Ángel Corella|String Sextet}}
[[File:Ensemble layout - string sextet.png|thumb|Example ensemble layout]]

In [[european classical music|classical music]], a '''string sextet''' is a composition written for six [[string instruments]], or a group of six musicians who perform such a composition. Most string sextets have been written for an ensemble consisting of two [[violin]]s, two [[viola]]s, and two [[cello]]s.

== Notable string sextets ==
Among the earliest works in this form are the nine string sextets [[opus number|Op.]] 23 by [[Luigi Boccherini]], written in 1776. Other notable string sextets include the [[String Sextet No. 1 (Brahms)|String Sextets Op. 18]] and [[String Sextet No. 2 (Brahms)|36]] by Brahms, Dvořák's [[String Sextet (Dvořák)|Op. 48]], Tchaikovsky ''[[Souvenir de Florence]]'', Op. 70, Schoenberg's ''[[Verklärte Nacht]]'', Op. 4, [[Erich Wolfgang Korngold]] Op. 10, [[Erwin Schulhoff]]'s String Sextet of 1924, and [[Charles Wuorinen]]'s String Sextet of 1989.

== Less usual combinations ==
More unusual combinations for a string sextet:

* three violins, viola and two cellos: [[Ferdinand David (musician)|Ferdinand David]] (1810–1873), op. 38, [[Gaetano Brunetti]] (1744–1798), op. 1, [[Eugene Aynsley Goossens|Eugene Goossens]] (1893–1962), op. 37<ref>[https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:For_3_violins,_viola,_2_cellos (list of selected sextets for) 3 violins, viola, 2 cellos] ''imslp.org'', accessed 7 October 2020</ref>
* three violins, two violas and cello: [[Jan Brandts Buys]] (1868–1933), op. 40<ref>[https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:For_3_violins,_2_violas,_cello (list of selected sextets for) 3 violins, 2 violas, cello] ''imslp.org'', accessed 7 October 2020</ref>
* two violins, two violas, cello, double bass: [[Ignaz Pleyel]] (1757–1831) B.271, and others<ref>[https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:For_2_violins,_2_violas,_cello,_double_bass (list of selected sextets for) 2 violins, 2 violas, cello, double bass] ''imslp.org'', accessed 7 October 2020</ref>
* two violins, viola, two cellos, double bass: including works by [[Auguste Franchomme]] (1808–1884) and [[Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński]] (1807–1867)<ref>[https://imslp.org/index.php?title=Category:For_2_violins%2C_viola%2C_2_cellos%2C_double_bass&transclude=Template:Catintro (list of selected sextets for) 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, double bass] ''imslp.org'', accessed 7 October 2020</ref>

== Selected list of string sextets ==
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* [[Luigi Boccherini]] (1743–1805) String Sextets, Op. 23 (1776)
* [[Alexander Borodin]] (1833–1887) String Sextet in D minor (2 movements) (1860/61)
* [[Hakon Børresen]] (1876–1954) Sextet in G major, Op. 5 (1901)
* [[Johannes Brahms]] (1833–1897)
** [[String Sextet No. 1 (Brahms)|String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major]], Op. 18 (33')
** [[String Sextet No. 2 (Brahms)|String Sextet No. 2 in G major]], Op. 36 (33')
* [[Frank Bridge]] (1879–1941) String Sextet (1906–1912) (27')
* [[Karl Davydov]] (1838–1889) Sextet, Op. 35 (1880) dedicated to Leopold Auer
* [[Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński]] (1807–67) Sextet in E-flat major, Op.39  (1845) (for 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos & bass)
* [[Ernő Dohnányi]] (1877–1960) String Sextet in B-flat major (1893, revised 1898)   (27')
* [[Antonín Dvořák]] (1841–1904) [[String Sextet (Dvořák)|String Sextet in A major, Op. 48, B. 80]]  (31')
* [[Iván Erőd]] (1936–2019)
** Serenade for string sextet, Op. 45 (1983)
** 2nd String Sextet, Op. 68  (1996)
* [[Eduard Franck]] (1817–1893)
** String Sextet No. 1 in E-flat, Op. 41  (1882)
** String Sextet No. 2 in D major, Op. 50  (1894)
* [[Niels Gade]] (1871–1890) Sextet in E-flat major, Op. 44  (1865)
* [[Louis Glass]] (1864–1936) Sextet in G major, Op. 15 (1893)
* [[Reinhold Glière]] (1875–1956)
** Sextet No. 1 in C minor (1898)
** String Sextet No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7 (1904)
** String Sextet No. 3 in C major, Op. 11 (1904)
* [[Heinrich Hofmann (composer)|Heinrich Hofmann]] (1842–1902) Sextet Op. 25 (1874)
* [[Joseph Holbrooke]] (1878–1958) Sextet in D, Op. 43 (1924)
* [[Vincent d'Indy]] (1851–1931) String Sextet in B-flat major, Op. 92 (1927)
* [[Mauricio Kagel]] (1931–2008) [[String Sextet (Kagel)|String Sextet]] (1953, rev. 1957)
* [[Hans von Koessler]] (1853–1926) Sextet in F minor (1902)
* [[Erich Wolfgang Korngold]] (1897–1957) [[String Sextet (Korngold)|String Sextet]] in D major, Op. 10 (1917) (33')
* [[Arnold Krug]] (1849–1904) Sextet in D major, Op. 68
* Max Lewandowsky (1874–1906) Sextet, Op. 5 (1904)
* [[Bohuslav Martinů]] (1890–1959) String Sextet, H. 224   Paris, 1932  (15-16')
* [[Mihály Mosonyi]] (1815–1870) String Sextet in C minor  (32')
* [[Per August Ölander]] (1824–1886)  String Sextet  (1876?)
* [[Walter Piston]] (1894–1976) String Sextet (1964)  (18')
* [[Joachim Raff]] (1822–1882) Sextet in G minor, Op. 178   (1872)
* [[Max Reger]] (1873–1916) Sextet in F major, [[Max Reger works#118|Op. 118]] (1910)
* Friedhelm Rentzsch (born 1955) String Sextet  (1981)  (15')
* [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] (1844–1908) String Sextet in A major  (30')
* [[Paul Rosenbloom]] (born 1952) String Sextet (1978) (30')
* [[Anton Rubinstein]] (1829–1894) Sextet in D major, Op. 97
* [[Peter Schickele]] (born 1935) String Sextet (1990) (26')
* [[Arnold Schoenberg]] (1874–1951) ''[[Verklärte Nacht]]'' (''Transfigured Night''), Op. 4 (1899)  (29')
* [[Erwin Schulhoff]] (1894–1942) String Sextet (1924) (21')
* [[Salvatore Sciarrino]] (born 1947) Sestetto (2003) (22')
* [[Louis Spohr]] (1784–1859) String Sextet in C major, Op. 140 (1848) (24')
* [[Richard Strauss]] (1864–1949) from the Opera ''[[Capriccio (opera)|Capriccio]]'', Op. 85 (1942)  (10')
* [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]] (1840–1893) ''[[Souvenir de Florence]]'', Op. 70   (35')
* [[Graham Waterhouse]] (born 1962) [[String Sextet (Waterhouse)|String Sextet op. 1]] (1979–2013)
* {{ill|Nicolai von Wilm|de}} (1834–1911) Sextet in B minor, Op. 27  (1898)
* [[Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari]] (1876–1948) Sextet in C minor (1894-5)
* [[Charles Wuorinen]] (1938–2020) String Sextet (1989)
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== See also ==
*[[String sextet repertoire]]
*[[Sextet]]
*[[String trio]]
*[[String quartet]]
*[[String quintet]]
*[[String octet]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ed. S. Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1980)
* Naxos Music Library (www.NaxosMusicLibrary.com)

{{Musical ensembles}}
{{Violin family}}
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[[Category:Chamber music]]
[[Category:Compositions for string sextet| ]]
[[Category:Types of musical groups]]