Guarneri Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet
founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival
. During the quartet's early years the members were in residence at Harpur College (SUNY Binghamton) in upstate New York.
The Quartet's 40th anniversary was celebrated with an extensive tour in the United States, Europe and South America in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Quartet continues their longstanding residence at the University of Maryland, College Park
, where members serve on the faculty of the School of Music and as faculty members at the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia. In June 2007, the quartet announced plans to retire in 2009.
2nd violin
viola
'cello
, of the Budapest Quartet
, who had begun summer teaching at the Marlboro Music School and Festival
in southern Vermont
shortly before the Guarneri Quartet was founded.
includes:
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...
founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival
Marlboro Music School and Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont...
. During the quartet's early years the members were in residence at Harpur College (SUNY Binghamton) in upstate New York.
The Quartet's 40th anniversary was celebrated with an extensive tour in the United States, Europe and South America in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Quartet continues their longstanding residence at the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, where members serve on the faculty of the School of Music and as faculty members at the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia. In June 2007, the quartet announced plans to retire in 2009.
Members
1st violin- Arnold SteinhardtArnold SteinhardtArnold Steinhardt , is an American violinist, best known as the first violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet....
(b. 1937)
2nd violin
- John DalleyJohn DalleyJohn Dalley is second violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet was born in Madison, Wisconsin, United States and studied with Efrem Zimbalist....
(b. 1935)
viola
- Michael TreeMichael TreeMichael Tree is an American violist, born in Newark, New Jersey.-Biography:Michael Tree's principal studies were with Efrem Zimbalist on violin and viola at the Curtis Institute of Music...
(b. 1934)
'cello
- David SoyerDavid SoyerDavid Soyer was an American cellist.He was born in Philadelphia and began playing the piano at the age of nine. At 11, he started the cello. One of his first teachers was Diran Alexanian. Later on he studied with Emanuel Feuermann and Pablo Casals...
(1923–2010) (1964–2001) - Peter WileyPeter WileyPeter Wiley is a cellist and cello teacher. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer...
(b. 1955) (2001–2009)
Origins and activities
The Quartet was brought together partly at the instigation of Alexander SchneiderAlexander Schneider
Alexander Schneider was a violinist, conductor, and educator. Born in Vilna, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest Quartet.- Biography :...
, of the Budapest Quartet
Budapest Quartet
The Budapest String Quartet was a string quartet in existence from 1917 to 1967. It originally consisted of three Hungarians and a Dutchman; at the end, the quartet consisted of four Russians. A number of recordings were made for HMV/Victor through 1938; from 1940 through 1967 it recorded for...
, who had begun summer teaching at the Marlboro Music School and Festival
Marlboro Music School and Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont...
in southern Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
shortly before the Guarneri Quartet was founded.
Recordings
The Guarneri String Quartet has made numerous recordings during its long history, including some of the most important works in the string quartet and chamber music literature. They recorded for Arabesque, RCA Red Seal, Philips, and Surroundedby Entertainment. A partial discographyDiscography
Discography is the study and listing of the details concerning sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified musical genres...
includes:
- Juan Crisóstomo ArriagaJuan Crisóstomo ArriagaJuan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola was a Spanish composer. He was nicknamed the "Spanish Mozart" after he died, because, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was also a child prodigy and an accomplished composer who died young...
– Complete String Quartets - Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
– Complete String Quartets - Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
– Complete String Quartets (recorded twice: on RCA and Philips), String Quintet in C Op. 29 (with Pinchas ZukermanPinchas ZukermanPinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
) - Alexander BorodinAlexander BorodinAlexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
– String Quartet No. 2 - Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
– Complete String Quartets, Complete String Quintets (with Pinchas ZukermanPinchas ZukermanPinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
), Piano Quintet in f Op. 34 (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
on RCA, with Peter SerkinPeter Serkin-Biography:He was born in New York City and is the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene had married Rudolf Serkin...
on Philips), Complete Piano Quartets (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
), - Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
– String Quartet (recorded twice: on RCA and on Surroundedby Entertainment) - Ernő DohnányiErno DohnányiErnő Dohnányi was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. He used the German form of his name Ernst von Dohnányi for most of his published compositions....
– String Quartet No. 2 in Db - Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
– Piano Quintet No. 2 Op. 81 (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
), Quartet in C Op. 61, in F Op. 96 ("American"), in G Op. 106, in Ab Op. 105, Viola Quintet in Eb Op. 97 (with Walter TramplerWalter TramplerWalter Trampler was a German musician and teacher of the viola and viola d'amore.Born at Munich, he began to study music at the age of 6, learning from his father, a violinist. In his youth, he toured Europe performing as the violist of the Strub String Quartet...
), Terzetto Op. 74 - Gabriel FauréGabriel FauréGabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
– String Quartet Op. 121 (recorded twice: on RCA and Surroundedby Entertainment), Piano Quartet in c Op. 15 (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
) - Edvard GriegEdvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
– String Quartet in g Op. 27 (recorded twice: on RCA and Philips) - Joseph HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
– String Quartets in D Op. 20 No. 4, in g Op. 74 No. 3, in G Op. 77 No. 1, in F Op. 77 No. 2 - Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
– Piano Quintet (with Peter SerkinPeter Serkin-Biography:He was born in New York City and is the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene had married Rudolf Serkin...
) - Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
– Complete String Quartets - Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
– String Quartet in an Op. 13, String Quartet in D Op. 44 No. 1, Viola Quintet in Bb Op. 87 (with Pinchas ZukermanPinchas ZukermanPinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
, Octet in Eb Op. 20 (with the Orion String QuartetOrion String QuartetThe Orion String Quartet is a string quartet formed in 1987. It is the quartet-in-residence of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York's Mannes College of Music. The members are Todd and Daniel Phillips, brothers who alternate on first and second violin, violist Steven Tenenbom... - Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
– The Complete Piano Quartets (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
), Eine kleine Nachtmusik (with Julius Levine), 6 String Quartets dedicated to Joseph HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
(recorded twice: for RCA and Philips) (in G K387, in d K421, in E K428, in Bb K458, in A K464, in C K465), String Quartet in D K499, String Quartet in D K575, String Quartet in Bb K589, String Quartet in F K590, The Complete Viola Quintets (with Ida KavafianIda KavafianIda Kavafian is a classical violinist and violist.Kavafian was born in Turkey to Armenian parents. She moved with her family to America in 1956, and began studying violin in Detroit at age six...
, Steven Tenenbom, and Kim KashkashianKim KashkashianKim Kashkashian is an Armenian-American violist.-Professional career:Kim Kashkashian studied the viola with Karen Tuttle. She also studied at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She won the 2nd prize at the 1980 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the 1980 ARD International Music...
) - Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
– String Quartet (recorded twice: for RCA and Surroundedby Entertainment) - Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
– String Quartets in a D804 (recorded twice: for RCA and Arabesque), in c "Quartettsatz", in d D810 "Death and the Maiden" (recorded twice: for RCA and Arabesque), in G D887, String Quintet in C D956 (with Leonard RoseLeonard RoseLeonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...
), "Trout" Quintet D667 (with Emanuel AxEmanuel AxEmanuel Ax is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is currently a teacher on the faculty of the Juilliard School. He is considered one of the best known concert pianists of the 21st century.-Early life:...
and Julius Levine) - Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
– Complete String Quartets, Op. 41, Piano Quintet in Eb Op. 44 (with Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
) - Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
– String Quartet in D minor Op. 56 "Voces intimae" - Bedřich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
– String Quartet in E minor ("From my Life") - Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
– String Quartet No. 1 in D Op. 11, "Souvenir de Florence" Sextet Op. 70 (with Boris Kroyt and Mischa Schneider) - Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
– String Quartet in E minor - Hugo WolfHugo WolfHugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
– Italian SerenadeItalian SerenadeThe Italian Serenade is a piece of music written by Hugo Wolf in 1887. It was written originally for string quartet and named simply Serenade in G major. By April 1890, he was referring to it in his letters as "Italian Serenade". In 1892, he arranged it for string orchestra. It is one of his...
Awards
- 2005: The Ford Honors Award, University Musical Society of the University of Michigan.
- 2004: The Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, Chamber Music America.
- 1992: Award of Merit, Association of Performing Arts Presenters in New York City.
- 1983: Honorary Doctorate degrees by the State University of New York.
- 1982: New York Seal of Recognition.
- 1976: Honorary Doctorate degrees by the University of South Florida
Films
- 1989: High Fidelity – The Guarneri String Quartet, directed and produced by Allan Miller.
Related Publications
- David Blum (1986). The Art of Quartet Playing: The Guarneri Quartet in Conversation with David Blum, New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc. ISBN 0-394-53985-0.
- I. Fink & C. Merriell with the Guarneri String Quartet (1985). String Quartet Playing, New Jersey: Paganiniana Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-86622-007-0
- Helen Drees Ruttencutter (1980). Quartet: a Profile of the Guarneri Quartet. New York. Lippincott & Crowell Publishers. ISBN 0-690-01944-0
- Arnold Steinhardt (1998). Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmony, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-23670-4.