The Bartók Quartet is a Hungarian

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

ensemble, founded in 1963 in Budapest as the successor ensemble of the Komlós Quartet (1957–63). Their repertoire includes especially works of the

Viennese Classicism The First Viennese School is a name mostly used to refer to three composers of the Classical period in Western art music in late-18th-century to early-19th-century Vienna: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Sometimes ...

and

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hun ...

as well as contemporary Hungarian composers.

History

The Bartók Quartet is the successor ensemble of the Komlós Quartet which was founded in 1957 by students of the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

. In 1963, the ensemble was renamed the Bartók Quartet and had its first great success when it won 1st prize at the 1964 International String Quartet Competition in Liège. The Bartók Quartet has participated in international music festivals, as well as outstanding ceremonies such as the opening of the world-famous

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

and

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

in New York City at the UN. The Quartet was awarded the

Liszt Prize Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

in 1965, the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the d ...

in 1970 and 1997; in 1981 they received the UNESCO Prize and the title, Outstanding Artists. In 1986, the ensemble received the Béla Bartók-Ditta Pásztory Prize. The recording of the six Bartók String Quartets (

Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 as Disques Erato by Philippe Loury to promote French classical music. Loury was head of éditions musicales Costallat. His first releases in France were licensed from the Haydn Society of Boston, ...

/ EMI) was awarded the "Grand Prix" by European critics. Further recordings followed, including the complete string quartets of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

Members

Source:

First violin

* Péter Komlós (1957–2017)

Second violin

* Sándor Devich (1957–1982) * Béla Banfalvy (1982–1985) * Géza Hargitai (1985–)

Viola

* Géza Németh (1957–)

Violoncello

* László Mezö (1957–1960 and 1977–) * Károly Botvay (1960–1977)

Recordings

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

: ''Streichquintette F-dur op. 88, G-dur op. 111'' (Deutsche Schallplatten, 1984) * Johannes Brahms: ''Streichsextette B-dur op. 18, G-dur op. 36'' (Deutsche Schallplatten, 1985) * Das Schönste der deutschen Romantik – Chöre, Lieder, Balladen (Delta Music, 1986) * Sternstunden der Musik (Deutscher Schallplatten-Club, 1987) * Meditation – ehrteiliges WerkTeil: Vol. 1. (1991) * Felix Otto Dessoff: ''Kammermusik'' (Bella Musica, 1994) *

Klassik Radio Klassik Radio is a radio station in Germany. It specialises in classical music, Film music and Lounge music. The channel is receivable in over 300 German cities via FM, throughout Germany via cable, and in Europe via satellite. It is also world ...

– ''Musik für gewisse Stunden'' (Bella Musica, 1996) *

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic music, Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose music would make a lasting impressi ...

– ''String quartets op. 11 and op. 30'' (Andreas Spreer, 2002) * Meditation – ''classical relaxation / beautiful harmonies of great classical music'' (Delta Music, 2002) * Meditation – ''Entspannen mit klassischer Musik'' (Delta Music, 2003)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartok Quartet Hungarian string quartets 1963 establishments in Hungary Béla Bartók