Léner Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Léner String Quartet, sometimes written the Lehner String Quartet, was a string quartet
of Hungarian
origin, founded in Budapest
in 1918, which for most of its pre-war career operated in or from London
. The Léner made the first complete recorded cycle of Beethoven quartets.
1st violin
2nd violin
viola
'cello
In later manifestations of the ensemble, Paul Rolland
(viola) and Laszlo Varga
(cello) were players in the Léner Quartet.
), on 24 June 1894. He studied at the Royal High School for Music in Budapest. He founded the quartet in 1918 and was its leader.
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...
of Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
origin, founded in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in 1918, which for most of its pre-war career operated in or from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The Léner made the first complete recorded cycle of Beethoven quartets.
Personnel
The original founding lineup of the Quartet, which lasted throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, was as follows:1st violin
- Jenö Léner (or Lehner)
2nd violin
- Joszef Smilovits
viola
- Sándor Roth
'cello
- Imre Hartmann
In later manifestations of the ensemble, Paul Rolland
Paul Rolland
Paul Rolland was a violist and an influential American violin teacher who concentrated on the pedagogy of teaching fundamentals to beginning string students. He was famous for emphasizing that the physical demands of most violin techniques can be taught in the first two years of violin education...
(viola) and Laszlo Varga
Laszlo Varga
Laszlo Varga is a Hungarian-American cellist who has a worldwide status as a soloist, recording artist, and authoritative cello teacher.-Biography:...
(cello) were players in the Léner Quartet.
Origins
Jenö Léner was born at Szabadka, Hungary (later annexed to YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
), on 24 June 1894. He studied at the Royal High School for Music in Budapest. He founded the quartet in 1918 and was its leader.
Recordings
The Léner Quartet recorded extensively during the 1920s and 1930s for Columbia Records, a partnership which received a strong impetus from the centenary of Beethoven's death in 1927, when a core of the Beethoven quartets were recorded or begun (L series). This was followed up in 1928 with the Schubert centenary, for which the Léner recorded the Octet. The LX prefix records below were mainly issued between 1933 and 1936. Their principal recordings of complete works (all 78rpm Columbia) in that period are as follows:- Beethoven, op 18 nos 1 & 4 (L 1842-1847); op 18 nos 2 & 3 (L 1901-1914); op 18 no 6 (L 1915-1917).
- Beethoven, op 59 no 1 (L 1837-1841); op 59 no 2 (L 1856-1859); op 59 no 3 (L 1860-1863); op 74 (LX 319-322).
- Beethoven, op 95 (L 1926-1928); op 127 (L 1921-1925); op 130 (L1929-1933); op 131 (LX 294-298); op 132 (LX 463-467); Grosse Fuge op 133 (LX 103-104); op 135 (L 1918-1920).
- Beethoven: Septet in E flat major op 20 (Léner, Roth and Hartmann with Claude HobdayClaude HobdayClaude Hobday was an English double-bass player, a member of a well-known musical family, who took part in various early chamber-music recordings....
(bass), Charles Draper (clarinet), E.W. Hinchcliffe (bassoon), Aubrey BrainAubrey BrainAubrey Brain was a British horn player and teacher. He was the father of Dennis Brain.-Biography:Aubrey Harold Brain was born in London in 1893. He came from a musical family. His father, A. E. Brain sr. was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra horn quartet...
(French horn)). (LX 109-113). (Before 1933). - Haydn: op 3 no 5 (9658-9659); op 76 no 3 (LX 451-4); op 76 no 5 (L 2257-2259). (Before 1933).
- Mozart: Quartet in D minor K421 (L 1965-1967); in B flat major K458 (L 2261-2263); in G major K387 (LX 24-27). (all before 1933).
- Mozart: Quintet in G minor K516, with L. d'Oliveira, viola (LX 61-64). (Before 1933).
- Mozart: Quintet in A major K581, with Charles Draper, clarinet (L 2252-2255). (Before 1933).
- Mozart: Quartet in F major K370, with Léon GoossensLéon GoossensLéon Jean Goossens CBE, FRCM was a British oboist.He was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal College of Music...
, oboe (LX 256-257). (Before 1933). - Schubert: Octet in F major op 166, with Claude Hobday (bass), Charles Draper (clarinet), E.W. Hinchcliffe (bassoon), Aubrey Brain (French horn). (L 2108-2113). (For Schubert centenary 1928).
- 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....
: Quintet in E flat major op 44, with Mme Olga Loeser-Lebert, piano (LX 266-269). - Brahms: Quartet in C minor op 51 no 1 (LX 228-31); in A minor op 51 no 2 (LX 163-166); in B flat op 67 (L 2357-2361). (all before 1933).
- Brahms: Quintet in F minor op 34, with Mme Olga Loeser-Lebert, piano (L 2040-2044). (Before 1933).
- Brahms: Quintet in B minor op 115, with Charles Draper, clarinet (L 2228-2232). (Before 1933).
- 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...
: Quartet in F op 96 (LX 183-185). (Before 1933). - Dvořák: Quintet in A major, with Mme Olga Loeser-Lebert, piano (LX 150-153). (Before 1933).
- Debussy: Quartet in G minor op 10 no 1 (L 2141-2144). (Before 1933).
- Ravel: Quartet in F major (LX 270-273). (Before 1936).
Sources and literature
- R.D. Darrell, The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music (New York 1936).
- Arthur Eaglefield HullArthur Eaglefield HullArthur Eaglefield Hull was an English music critic, writer, composer and organist.Hull was initially a music student of Tobias Matthay and graduated with a Doctorate of Music from Oxford University...
, A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924). - A. GlazounowAlexander GlazunovAlexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
(foreword), The Music Lovers Gramophone Library, Vol I, Schubert centenary issue of Columbia Records. (Columbia Graphophone Co, London 1928). - Catalogue of Columbia Records up to and including Supplement no 252 (Columbia, London 1933)
- Antal Molnár, 'A Léner-Vonósnégyes,' in Nagy Magyar Elöadómüvészek, no 6. (Budapest, Zenemökiadó 1968).
External links
- The Lener Quartet Papers are located in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.