Editing String quartet (section)

=== After Haydn ===
Quartet composition flourished in the [[Classical music era|Classical]] era. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]] each composed a number of quartets: "Beethoven in particular is credited with developing the genre in an experimental and dynamic fashion, especially in his later series of quartets written in the 1820s up until his death. Their forms and ideas inspired and continue to inspire musicians and composers, such as [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] and [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]]."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Edmund|title=The Universal Composer|date=2005|publisher=Atlas Books|location=New York|isbn=0-06-075974-7}}{{Page needed|date=May 2017}}</ref> Schubert's last musical wish was to hear Beethoven's [[String Quartet No. 14 (Beethoven)|Quartet in C{{music|sharp}} minor, Op. 131]], which he heard on 14 November 1828, just five days before his death. Upon listening to an earlier performance of this quartet, Schubert had remarked, "After this, what is left for us to write?" Wagner, when reflecting on Op. 131's first movement, said that it "reveals the most melancholy sentiment expressed in music". Of the [[Late string quartets (Beethoven)|late quartets]], Beethoven cited his own favorite as [[String Quartet No. 14 (Beethoven)|Op. 131]], which he saw as his most perfect single work.

[[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]]'s [[String Quartets (Mendelssohn)|six string quartets]] span the full range of his career, from 1828 to 1847; [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]]'s [[String Quartets (Schumann)|three string quartets]] were all written in 1842 and dedicated to Mendelssohn, whose quartets Schumann had been studying in preparation, along with those of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Several Romantic-era composers wrote only one quartet, while [[Antonín Dvořák#String quartets|Dvořák]] wrote 14.