txtDefinition=A balanced group of four {\uldb instruments}{\v 84565}\'97two {\uldb treble}{\v 101941} (the {\uldb violins}{\v 105626}), an alto (the {\uldb viola}{\v 105422}), and a {\uldb bass}{\v 129340} (the {\uldb cello}{\v 76489})\'97or a work composed for that grouping. There was originally a tenor (in singing, the high adult male) member of the {\uldb string}{\v 97871} family {\uldb pitched}{\v 92779} between the viola and the cello, but it disappeared quickly. The string quartet enjoyed its greatest flowering between ca. 1780 and 1827 in works by {\uldb Haydn}{\v 132423}, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.
