String Quartet No. 3 (Tchaikovsky)

{{Infobox musical composition

| name = String Quartet

| subtitle = No. 3

| composer = Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

| image = File:Pyotr Tchaikovsky с. 1870.jpg

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption = Tchaikovsky in 1874

| opus = 30

| catalogue =

| key = E-flat minor

| dedication = Ferdinand Laub

| composed = {{Start date|1876}}

| performed = {{Start date|1876|03|02|df=y}}

| published =

| movements = 4

| duration = 37 minutes

| scoring =

}}

The String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat minor, Op. 30, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was composed in 1876, and is the last of his three string quartets. It was written as a memorial for Ferdinand Laub.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Edwin|title=Tchaikovsky|year=1906|publisher=E. P. Dutton & Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tchaikovsky00evangoog/page/n188 157]–8| url=https://archive.org/details/tchaikovsky00evangoog

|quote=evans tchaikovsky quartet laub.|oclc=408445

|location=New York}} (The date upon the manuscript is early February 1876.{{cite book|last=Newmarch|first=Rosa Harriet|author-link=Rosa Newmarch|title=Tchaikovsky; his life and works, with extracts from his writings, and the diary of his tour abroad in 1888|date=1899|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|location=Kila, MT|isbn=1-4254-9674-1

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ae_-Ogu_fccC&q=tchaikovsky+quartet+1876&pg=PA53

|page=54}})

The quartet was performed for the first time at a party at Nikolai Rubinstein's apartment on March 2, 1876. The first public performance was at a concert on 30 March (new style/March 18 (old style), the performers being: Jan Hřímalý and Adolph Brodsky, violins; Yuly Gerber, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, cello.

Once, while Tchaikovsky was staying with some friends, they surprised him by bringing in a string quartet who performed this quartet for him. When they finished playing, Tchaikovsky remarked, "At first I didn't much like the Finale, but now I see that it is quite good."{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

Recently, it was featured in the downloadable content Left Behind for the 2013 video game The Last of Us.