txtCommentary1=The emergence of the {\uldb string quartet}{\v 154839} in the last half of the eighteenth century coincided with dramatic changes in the structure of European society. It is impossible to resist drawing parallels between the democratic movements in France or the thirteen American colonies and the impulse toward equality that underlies the string quartet. For the first time in Western music, an
txtCommentary2=\par\par\par {\uldb instrumental}{\v 84565} style evolved in which {\uldb voices}{\v 105907} of equal importance were committed to a spirited, give-and-take brand of conversation. In this {\uldb passage}{\v 90954} from Mozart\'92s Quartet, {\uldb K.}{\v 137211} 465, for example, we hear neither monarchs nor servants.{\fs24\uldb \'80}{\v next}