String quartet in the aspect of genre tradition: «stable» and «mobile» principles in the evolution of the genre

The article is devoted to generalization and systematization of themethodological principles within this genre, as one of the most stable in thesystem of chamber-instrumental music. The author of the article emphasizesthat the nature of the string quartet is revealed at the intersection of theglobal categories of the genre and style in music, which are adapted throughthe corresponding traditions. The latter within themselves are differentiatedinto historical, which are inherent in different schools, as well as«personal» – peculiar to a particular author. The article outlines the generaland special features of how each of them projects within the genre of quartet. It is noted that the historical aspect means the crystallization of the mono-timbral set of four bowed string instruments, which gradually emerged from the baroque «style of symphonies» and gained the status of stability duringthe period of Classicism. The national-style features of quartet principlesbecome especially noticeable in a romantic age, which moves away from theclassical interpretations of the genre. Finally, the genre tradition of thequartet is always seen at the individual level, particularly, within the quartetstyles of the «Modern Time» masters, where there are a variety of quartetmodels – up to free, experimental, and «liberal genre» ones. It is for the firsttime in the national musicology that a generalized classification of the stringquartet genre features is suggested; within the classification, the dialectical ratio of stable and mobile factors is highlighted and emphasized. It was alsonoted that the predominance of the former does not contradict the pluralismin the interpretations of the string quartet genre by the authors of differenteras and schools, where in diachrony and synchrony the various figurativesemantic and technological innovations are synthesized and mixed together.