Budapest Quartet (1886)

The Budapest Quartet was a string quartet established in Budapest in 1886 by Jenő Hubay and David Popper.

The members of the Budapest Quartet in 1888: Josef Waldbauer, Victor von Herzfeld, Jenő Hubay and David Popper

Johannes Brahms performed with the quartet and thought it was the best he had heard.^[1]

This quartet went under a variety of names. Outside Hungary, it was usually called "Quartet Hubay-Popper". Within Hungary it was called "Hungarian Quartet" or "Budapest Quartet". This was because Hungarians were fiercely patriotic.^[2]

They performed for twenty-seven years.^[3]

Composition

The quartet's initial composition was:

• Jenő Hubay, first violin
• Viktor Herzfeld, second violin
• Bram Eldering, viola
• David Popper, cello

Herzfeld played in 1886-1889 and 1897-1899. Wilhelm Grünfeld (concertmaster of Budapest Opera) played in 1888 the 2nd violin and 1889 József Bloch ^[hu] (later a teacher at the Music Academy). After then, two students of Hubay played the 2nd violin: in 1894 János Farkas and from 1895 Rudolf Kemény.^[4] Elderling left the quartet soon. Violist from 1888 was Josef Waldbauer^[5][6][7] and from 1898 Gustav Szerémi.

Notes

1. Potter, The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet, p.56
2. Brandt, Nat (1993), Con Brio: Four Russians Called the Budapest String Quartet, p.33. Oxford University Press
3. Avins, Performing Brahms: Early Evidence of Performance Style, p.29
4. Dr. Bela Diosy: Ungarischer Künstler Almanach: das Kunstleben Ungarns in Wort und Bild. Musik, Königlich Ungarische Universitätsdruckerei, Budapest 1929, p. 46
5. Tibor Frank: Berlin junction: patterns of Hungarian intellectual migrations, 1919-1933 - Hungary and the German Cultural Tradition
6. Dr. Bela Diosy: Ungarischer Künstler Almanach: das Kunstleben Ungarns in Wort und Bild. Musik, Königlich Ungarische Universitätsdruckerei, Budapest 1929, p. 46
7. Prof. Gianluca La Villa: Hubay e la Scuola ungherese del violino Archived 2004-12-24 at the Wayback Machine

References

• Potter, Tully (1999). "From chamber to concert hall". In Stowell, Robin (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. pp. 56. ISBN 0-521-00042-4.
• Campbell, Margaret (1999). "Nineteenth-century virtuosi". In Stowell, Robin (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Cello. Cambridge University Press. pp. 70–71. ISBN 0-521-62928-4.
• Avins, Styra. "Performing Brahms's music: clues from his letters". In Musgrave,Michael; Sherman,Bernard D. (eds.). Performing Brahms: Early Evidence of Performance Style. Cambridge University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-521-65273-1.