Greatest String Quartet

[klyde4parliament]

I'm in the process of writing a string quartet and am looking for examples. I've been studying classical examples (Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, etc.), but am most interested in works which incorporate Romantic and more contemporary 20th century techniques. I would appreciate any recommendations from composers or music enthusiasts of any variety (you can also just post your favorite symphony, or your candidate for the best, though I would personally hate to make such a choice). Thanks to everyone!! (Addendum: the piece I'm writing is going to be tonal, though not necessarily diatonic, so twelve-tone/serialist music, etc. is appreciated but less helpful)

[KGill]

Well, Beethoven and Shostakovich probably wrote the single best string quartets of all time, not to say there aren't many other highly valuable works out there. It really is one of the richest areas of classical music, in terms of sheer amount of repertoire. Let's see...as regards twentieth-century music, I would recommend taking a look at the following:
-Tonal (more or less):
---Shostakovich - Quartets Nos.9, 10, 13, 15 (or any others )
---Villa-Lobos - Quartets Nos.5, 6, 7
---Martinu - any quartet except No.1, probably
---Ravel - Quartet (barely counts as 20th-century, still great though)
-Not-so-tonal or outright atonal:
---Bartok - Quartets Nos.2, 4, 5
---Britten - Quartet No.3
---Carter - Quartet No.2 (heck, probably all of them)
---Berio - Quartet No.3 ('Notturno')
---Ligeti - Quartet No.1
---Stravinsky - 3 Pieces for String Quartet (short but important and highly interesting)
I'm sure everyone will yell at me for leaving out other major composers (Berg, Holmboe, Revueltas, Milhaud, Malipiero, Prokofiev, Cage, Tippett, Webern, Maconchy, Xenakis, ...), but I think this is a fair survey of the good stuff written in the last century. Admittedly it doesn't give the absolute best representation, but it should do all right for an introduction at least.
However, speaking as a composer of a string quartet (with a second in the works, plus a suite) myself, I would say that you should not feel as if you have all these greats peering over your shoulder. I would pick maybe one from each category to look at, at most, along with a Beethoven (Op.18 are great for analysis). How you approach the medium should be largely determined by your own personal style, not the works you select to examine.

[vinteuil]

As for Romantic, Schumann, Brahms, and Fauré are kings.

[steltz]

Any of the Mozart Haydn's, and Dvorak American, plus Debussy (since Ravel was mentioned, these are a nice pair).

[allegroamabile]

Anton Rubinstein's String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2, Op. 17 could be a nice, obscure addition.

[pocoallegro]

I find the Debussy quartet to be marvelously well crafted and downright beautiful! Janacek's are also wonderful pieces. Herbert Howells' "In Gloucestershire" quartet is a rarity, but quite beautiful.