String Quartets were not often performed publicly in the early nineteen-century; they were more often heard in the private sphere. There were two sort of string quartet: the "brilliant" and the "classical". As the quartet became increasingly public, it emphasised to a greater and greater extent the virtuoso role of the first violin. As Maître de Chapelle and court composer, Kalliwoda's oeuvre includes all types of compositions. These quartets are "non-concertant for the first violin, with the music nicely divided up among the instruments, not heavy for any of them, and in the beautiful style of Mozart.