Quote Originally Posted by Pat D
Sorry to be so late in replying. We have been doing a lot of gardening.
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I have never quite warmed up to the 6 Bartok Quartets but many regard them as the greatest body of quartets since Beethoven. I try, but so far they aren't my thing, but you may like them.

I really haven't gotten into the Shostakovich Quartets though I have a few. They are also regarded as a fine body of work.

Thre's a lot of interesting chamber music and I hope you enjoy your summer.
One more strong recommendation from me is the string quartets of Leos Janácek. He only wrote two: No.1 "Kreutzer Sonata" and No.2 "Intimate Letters" but they are great. I have two recordings; I'm not sure which I prefer, but the one I can find just now is the following. The Janacek are here paired with Alban Berg, one of the "Second Viennese School" composers, which isn't to everyone's taste ...
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...?album_id=5697

Unlike Pat, I'm really into Shostakovich's string quartets: my favorites are Nos. 3, 7, 8, and 10.

I like Bartok's quartets too, but I have to be in the mood. They make annoying back ground music but are interesting if you give them some attention -- of course, that's true of many works, especially the contemporary ones, including my Elliot Carter recommendation.