classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, 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 The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s, two violas, and two

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Notable string sextets

Among the earliest works in this form are the nine string sextets Op. 23 by Luigi Boccherini, written in 1776. Other notable string sextets include the String Sextets Op. 18 and 36 by Brahms, Dvořák's Op. 48, Tchaikovsky '' Souvenir de Florence'', Op. 70, Schoenberg's '' Verklärte Nacht'', Op. 4, Erich Wolfgang Korngold Op. 10,

Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff (; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germ ...

'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 (1810–1873), op. 38, Gaetano Brunetti (1744–1798), op. 1, Eugene Goossens (1893–1962), op. 37 * three violins, two violas and cello: Jan Brandts Buys (1868–1933), op. 40 * two violins, two violas, cello, double bass: Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831) B.271, and others * two violins, viola, two cellos, double bass: including works by Auguste Franchomme (1808–1884) and Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807–1867)(list of selected sextets for) 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, double bass
''imslp.org'', accessed 7 October 2020

Selected list of string sextets

* 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 Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

(1833–1897) ** String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18 (33') ** 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 Ernő or Erno is a Finnish language, Finnish and Hungarian language, Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator *Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hunga ...

(1877–1960) String Sextet in B-flat major (1893, revised 1898) (27') * Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) 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 (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 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 ...

(1953, rev. 1957) * Hans von Koessler (1853–1926) Sextet in F minor (1902) * Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957)

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, 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 Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

(1874–1951) '' Verklärte Nacht'' (''Transfigured Night''), Op. 4 (1899) (29') *

(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'', Op. 85 (1942) (10') * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) '' Souvenir de Florence'', Op. 70 (35') * Graham Waterhouse (born 1962) String Sextet op. 1 (1979–2013) * (1834–1911) Sextet in B minor, Op. 27 (1898) *

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as ''Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...

(1876–1948) Sextet in C minor (1894-5) * Charles Wuorinen (1938–2020) String Sextet (1989)

Notable string sextets

Less usual combinations

Selected list of string sextets

See also

References

Further reading