The Brodsky Quartet was a String quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 led by Adolph Brodsky

Adolph Brodsky

Adolph Davidovich Brodsky was a Russian violinist.He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer and teacher, starting early in Vienna, going on to Moscow, Leipzig, and New York City and finally Manchester. During its course he met and worked with composers such as Tchaikovsky and...

. It was established on 1884, while Brodsky was professor at the Leipzig Conservatoire

Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre

The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig is a public university in Leipzig . Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatory of Music, it is the oldest university school of music in Germany....

. The founding members, aside from Brodsky (1st violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

) were Ottokar Nováček

Ottokar Novacek

; May 13, 1866, Fehertémplom , southern Hungary – February 3, 1900, New York City) was an Hungarian violinist and composer of Czech descent and is perhaps best known for his work Perpetuum Mobile .- Family lineage :...

 (2nd violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

), Hans Sitt

Hans Sitt

Jan Hanuš Sitt, known as Hans Sitt, , was a Bohemian-German violinist, violist, teacher, and composer. During his lifetime, he was regarded as one of the foremost teachers of violin...

 (viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

) and Leopold Grützmacher

Leopold Grützmacher

Leopold Grützmacher was a German cellist and composer.He was the younger brother of Friedrich Grützmacher and was a member of the Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig...

 (violoncello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

).

In 1885, Hans Becker replaced Nováček (2nd violin) and Julius Klengel

Julius Klengel

Julius Klengel was a German cellist who is most famous for his etudes and solo pieces written for the instrument. He was the brother of Paul Klengel....

 replaced Grützmacher. In 1888, Sitt was replaced by Nováček (viola), a former student of Brodksy. In 1891, Sitt replaced Nováček (viola) again and Arno Hilf replaced Brodsky, as the latter moved to the United States, accepting the invitation by Walter Damrosch to become concertmaster

Concertmaster

The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...

 of the New York Symphony Orchestra

New York Symphony Orchestra

The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a fierce rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie who built Carnegie Hall expressly for the...

. The quartet was renowned internationally and toured Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 (1889), Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 (1890) and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (1891) as well as Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

In 1895, Brodksy formed a second quartet named Brodsky Quartet

Brodsky Quartet (Adolph Brodsky Manchester)

The Brodsky Quartet was the second String quartet established and led by violinist Adolph Brodsky.It was established on 1895 in Manchester, after Brodsky left New York and came to the English city to teach at the Royal Manchester College of Music, and direct the Hallé Orchestra.Brodsky played...

, when he settled in Manchester. Several years after a 1890 request by that quartet's cellist Carl Fuchs, Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...

 composed in 1918 his String Quartet in E minor

String Quartet (Elgar)

The String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83, was one of three major chamber music works composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1918. The others were the Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82, and the Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84. Along with the Cello Concerto in E minor, Op...

, Op. 83 and dedicated it to the quartet.