The Budapest Quartet was a

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 violinists ...

established in Budapest in 1886 by

Jenő Hubay Jenő Hubay, Jenő Hubay von Szalatna, hu, szalatnai Hubay Jenő (; 15 September 185812 March 1937), also known by his Germany, German name Eugen Huber (), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher. Early life Hubay was born i ...

and

David Popper David Popper (June 16, 1843 – August 7, 1913) was a Bohemian cellist and composer. Some other sources list his date of birth as December 9, 1843. Life Popper was born in Prague, and studied music at the Prague Conservatory. His family was Je ...

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 ...

performed with the quartet and thought it was the best he had heard. 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. They performed for twenty-seven years.

Composition

The quartet's initial composition was: *

, first

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Viktor Herzfeld, second violin * Bram Eldering,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

Herzfeld played in 1886-1889 and 1897-1899. Wilhelm Grünfeld (concertmaster of

Budapest Opera The Hungarian State Opera House ( hu, Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of ...

) played in 1888 the 2nd violin and 1889 (later a teacher at the

Music Academy The Music Academy is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

). After then, two students of Hubay played the 2nd violin: in 1894 János Farkas and from 1895 Rudolf Kemény. Elderling left the quartet soon. Violist from 1888 was Josef WaldbauerProf. Gianluca La Villa: ''Hubay e la Scuola ungherese del violino''
and from 1898 Gustav Szerémi.

Notes

References

* * * Musical groups established in 1886 Hungarian string quartets 1886 establishments in Hungary {{Classical-ensemble-stub