Oh, you wanna know about them top 10 chamber quartets, huh? Well, I heard tell there’s a bunch of ’em out there, playing their fiddles and such. Them fancy music folks, always playin’ together, you see.
This one feller, he says to me, “Ma’am,” he says, “you gotta hear this string quartet.” And I says, “String what?” But he just keeps goin’ on about how good they are. That’s what all the young folks listen to these days.
So, I reckon I heard a few names tossed around. Let me think…
- There’s one, they call ’em the, uh, Guarneri String Quartet. Yeah, that’s it. Heard they’re real good. Played a long time, I reckon. People sure do like ’em. They play that old-timey music, you know. Real famous, I suppose.
- Then there’s another one… starts with an A, I think. Alban Berg Quartet, maybe? Something like that. Don’t rightly know much about ’em, but folks seem to think they’re somethin’ special. They play that music, it’s kinda sad sometimes. But you know, folks like that kind of stuff.
Now, this other group, they’re a bit newer, I think. They call themselves the Emerson String Quartet. Heard they’re pretty good too, for young folks. They go around playing their music everywhere. I reckon they’re real popular with them city folk. They have energy. I guess that is important. They get the job done, my neighbor’s boy told me.
I heard some folks talkin’ ’bout this one fella, Mozart, I think his name was. He wrote a whole bunch of music for these string quartets. Seems like everybody plays his stuff. They call it classical music. Sounds kinda fancy to me, but what do I know? I heard they have something called Haydn Quartets. That must be good, I don’t know.
They say his music is the best, you know. Like, the most important stuff. Keystones, they call it. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds important. I guess if you’re gonna listen to this kind of music, you gotta listen to his stuff. That’s what they tell me, anyway. They say his music is everywhere, on the radio, in them concert halls.
Now, I don’t know much about this kind of thing. But them young folks, they sure do love it. They go to them concerts, all dressed up, listenin’ to that chamber music. They say it’s good for the soul. Makes you feel all sorts of things, I guess. Some folks say it is about conversation, I don’t know what they mean.
- Oh, I remember another one now. It has piano. They call it a Piano Trio. They say it’s real famous too. Don’t know much about it, but it sounds like a lot of people like it. They say it is Minor. Don’t know what that means.
- And this one, String Quartet No. 14. Sounds important, with a number like that. Must be a real good one. This one is also Minor. Seems important.
- Then there’s another one with a piano, Piano Quintet, they call it. Sounds fancy. Five people playin’ at once, must be somethin’ to see. This one, they say, is also Minor.
- They also have Groe Fuge. Don’t know what it is, just some music I guess.
Well, I’ve heard of other groups but can’t rightly recall their names. There’s a whole bunch of these chamber music bands, I reckon. They all play their music, and people listen. These are just a few of the big names, I guess. The ones everybody talks about. The best of the best, you might say. They all made records. And they sell a lot of them.
I ain’t no expert, but it sure sounds like there’s a lot of folks out there makin’ this kind of music. And a lot of folks listenin’ to it. So, I guess it must be pretty good. They have been doing it for a long time. I mean, a really long time.
If you’re into that sort of thing, I reckon those are some good names to start with. Just ask around, somebody will tell you all about ’em. They’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know, probably. They have a lot of passion, I guess.
