When is a String Quartet Not a String Quartet?

 

String quartets are usually comprised of two violins, one viola, and one cello.  Composer Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) essentially codified this grouping in his 76 string quartet compositions, and it's still the defacto string quartet orchestration to this day. 

In 1971, Elliott Carter (1908 - 2012) composed his third string quartet.  He used Haydn's orchestration for the quartet, but instead of composing an actual quartet written for a set of four instruments, Carter composed a double duo.  In this manner, there are two simultaneous duos occurring to create a quartet.  Duo I is violin I and cello.  Duo II is violin II and viola.  This is one of my favorite pieces of Carter's.  It also earned Carter his second Pulitzer Prize in 1973.  Carter's third quartet is a highly complex and intricate composition; both rhythmically and harmonically.  It's also very compositionally dense and powerful.  

Hayden: Op. 76; No. 1

 

As I was listening to this piece one day in 2024, I wondered in mild amazement why no one else had tried this double-duo format for string quartet.  Then I wondered why I hadn't tried it.  Then I realized that I should try it.  I immediately thought of my long-time partner Mark Wingfield.  Mark is best known for being an electric fusion guitarist, but like me, has been influenced by Elliott Carter.  

I envisioned a recording project wherein we create six quartets in the double-duo format.  This is achieved by overdubbing: I would write and record part 1, then send it to Mark for him to write and record part 2.  This completes the first duo.  Then, Mark sends parts 1 and 2 back to me so that I can write and record part 3; after doing so, I then return parts 1, 2, and 3 to Mark wherein he adds part 4.  This completes both the second duo and the overall quartet.  

So, I recorded three part 1 sections for three double duo quartet compositions, and sent them to Mark. Simultaneously, Mark was recording his part 1s for three quartets and sending them to me so that I could add my part 2, then send it back to Mark for him to add his part 3, and the process continued thus.  Parts 2 - 4 for each quartet are all based on/built from the part or parts that preceded them.  This achieves an overall compositional cohesion and structure for each quartet.

Additionally, my plan for my parts in all the quartets was to use a different instrument for both of my parts in each quartet.  Hence, each quartet has two parts for each of us, and I wanted to use a different pair of my instruments for each quartet; therefore, not only using a different instrument for each part within each quartet, but none of the quartets would have the same pairing of my instruments.  Mark took a similar approach wherein he used differing patches and treatments for each of his parts.

I know Mark pretty well, and I figured he'd like this idea.  He did indeed.  I proposed a total of six compositions, making this an album project.  I suggested that we'd each start by creating part 1 of three pieces.

Recording sessions began in mid-2024, but due to other project commitments for both of us, we had to shelve the quartet project until mid-2025.  This being such a complex project proved to be rather more demanding than previous recording projects.  As of this writing, five of the six quartets are complete, and the last remaining quartet has two of its four parts completed.  We're almost done.

Much like Carter's third quartet, this quartet project is evolving into something resulting in some very dense, angular, and complex music.  

I'm pretty excited about it, and look forward to its album release.

More to come.

 -kk  

 UPDATE: As of 23 July 2025, recording sessions for the quartet project are complete.

 

*The answer to the question posed in the title: when it's a double duo.