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It is probably fair to state that Haydn was the creator
of a musical genre, the string quartet, even though
pieces for two violins, viola, and cello had already
existed previously. One thinks especially of the
quartets of François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) and
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805). Haydn’s sets of quartets
broke with the persistent facility of these efforts, their
primary purpose as entertainment music.
The second half of the eighteenth century saw the
appearanceof anewmodel of collectivemusic-making
aimed above all at competent amateurs, although it is
true that the first violin part, the
prima voce
, calls for
an assured technique. The cassations or
divertimenti
a quattro
that had gained entry to private salons
gradually abandoned the spirit of the Italian serenade,
and composers began to take a keener interest in
them.