Mitch Friedfeld:
>Okay, Listfolk: What was the first string quartet?
According to Eugene K. Wolf in The New Harvard Dictionary of Music,
the "most likely candidates for the title of the first 'true' string
quartets" are Haydn's op. 1 & 2., probably from 1757-1759. By "true"
quartets he means that the ensemble did not include keyboard continuo.
Boccherini, op. 1 or 2 from 1761 seems to be a close second.
Jim Tobin