For more than two hundred years the string quartet has been a medium for music of the deepest personal expression. The course should be of interest to those lovers of classical music wishing to begin or extend their knowledge of this medium. The course will progress from the 18th to the 20th century, each session devoted to a particular quartet, beginning with an introduction to the composer and his music before watching and listening to a DVD and then sharing our thoughts. Starting with Haydn, often described as the father of the string quartet, we continue with Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bartok, Britten and Shostakovich.