Most of us naively believe that they reliably know what a quartet is. Is this really so, or can we be wrong? Let's find out the reliable meaning of this term, and in addition, consider the most famous musical quartets in history.
What does a quartet mean?
This noun has not one but several interpretations at once.
The main one is the type of musical composition written for performance on four instruments or by four singers.
Yes, yes, that’s exactly the right answer to the question: “What does the quartet mean?” And the interpretation of it, more known to everyone, as the name of the type of musical ensemble of four people, is secondary, formed from the first. It arose later, and gained such wide popularity with the widespread distribution of pop music.
By the way, the proof that the meaning of the word “quartet” (as a type of musical work) is primary is served by the fable “Quartet” known from school bench of Ivan Andreyevich Krylov. At the very beginning it says that the animals "... started playing a quartet ...".
Origin of the word
Having considered both ways of interpreting what a quartet is, it is worth paying attention to the etymology of this noun. So, like most musical terms, this one came from Italian.
It was formed from the harmonious word quartetto, which, in turn, was borrowed from Latin (quartus), and is translated as “fourth”.
In the future, this term has spread to other languages, having undergone minimal changes.
For example, in English it is quartet, in German - Quartett, in French - quatuor, in Polish - kwartet, in Czech - kvartet, etc.
Kinds
Having understood what a quartet is, and having learned the etymology of a given noun, it is worth considering its varieties.
If we are talking about the type of musical work, then its types are distinguished.
Homogeneous. Such pieces are intended to be performed by instruments of the same type. In theory, there can be many. However, in practice, most often musical works are created for such combinations:
- String Quartet. It consists of two violins, cello and viola. By the way, it was he who the characters of the aforementioned fable intended to play.
- Quartet for wind instruments. The combination is widespread - bassoon, oboe, flute and clarinet.
- Saxophone Quartet. Arose relatively recently. Unlike the aforementioned homogeneous species, it consists entirely of saxophones, though of a different structure. Most often it is: soprano, viola, tenor and baritone. Although there are other combinations.
Mixed. As the name implies, such quartets are performed by musical instruments of various types:
- One of the most famous combinations is the piano, cello, viola and violin (called "piano").
- If, in the same composition, the piano takes the place of the flute, such a mixed quartet is called "flute."
- Less common is an oboe quartet. The oboe plays the main part in it, and three violins serve as his support.
- In jazz ensembles most often quartet pieces are calculated on a saxophone, piano, double bass and some of percussion instruments.
- As for rock and pop, most of their songs are designed to combine three instruments (guitar, bass and drums), as well as vocals.
It is worth noting that vocal performance in a quartet is equated to one instrument (since a separate part is provided for it in the score). And if one of the performers not only sings, but also plays something at the same time, then such a work is already a quintet (five parts), despite the participation of four people in it.
The most famous quartets
We figured out what a quartet is and what its varieties are (like a piece of music), let's now look at the most famous musical groups of this kind.
First of all, this is the legendary "Liverpool Four", which gave the world the best song of the twentieth century. - Yesterday. This is the British band The Beatles, which played Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Another cult ensemble is Queen with frontman Freddie Mercury. It is worth noting that in different years various musicians played together with this group, therefore it was far from always being a quartet.
Oddly enough this sounds, but apparently in the twentieth century. it was Great Britain that was home to the most famous rock ensembles. After all, in addition to those listed, another cult British four is the Led Zeppelin group. She became famous not so much for texts (as the previous two), but for her music, becoming in fact the progenitor of such a direction as heavy metal.
But the Swedish ABBA quartet (Agneta Feltskog, Annie-Frid Lingstad, Bjorn Ulveus, Benny Andersson), on the contrary, gained fame thanks to melodious compositions and touching lyrics in English.
Russian comic Theater "Quartet I"
The noun in question is also included in the name of the popular Moscow theater "Quartet I". Although today its composition is much larger, it all began with the four artists - Rostislav Khait, Leonid Barats, Kamil Larin and Alexander Demidov.
They gained particular popularity thanks to a series of witty plays, on the basis of which several famous films were shot.
The most successful of these are Election Day, Radio Day , What Men Talk About, What Men Still Talk About, and the miniseries Quartet And According to Amstel.
By the way, in February 2018, it is planned to release another tape with the participation of an incendiary four - "What men are talking about. To be continued." Will she be as good as their previous projects? We will find out soon.