The Beethoven Quartet (russian: Струнный квартет имени Бетховена, ''Strunnyĭ kvartet imeni Betkhovena'') was a string quartet founded between 1922 and 1923 by graduates of the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

: violinists Dmitri Tsyganov and Vasily Shirinsky, violist

Vadim Borisovsky Vadim Vasilyevich Borisovsky (russian: Вадим Васильевич Борисовский; January 20, 1900 – July 2, 1972) was a Soviet and Russian violist. Biography Born in Moscow, Borisovsky entered Moscow Conservatory in 1917 studying ...

and cellist Sergei Shirinsky (half brother of Vasily). In 1931, they changed their name from the Moscow Conservatory Quartet to the Beethoven Quartet. In the course of its fifty-year history, the Quartet performed more than six hundred works and recorded more than two hundred Russian and international classical works. From 1938, it collaborated closely with the composer Dmitri Shostakovich and premiered thirteen of his fifteen string quartets, Nos. 2 through 14. He dedicated his

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and fifth quartets to the Beethoven Quartet, while later quartets were dedicated individually to the members: Quartet No. 11 to the memory of Vasily Shirinsky, Quartet No. 12 to Tsyganov, Quartet No. 13 to Borisovsky, and Quartet No. 14 to Sergei Shirinsky. list of works by Shostakovich, with dedications where available, to consolidate this information in one place. In addition to the string quartets, the Beethoven Quartet also premiered the

Piano Quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

with the composer at the piano, and likewise the second piano trio with two of the Quartet's players. Fyodor Druzhinin took over from Borisovsky in 1964, giving a runthrough of the ninth quartet with the rest of the group. Sergei Shirinsky died during rehearsals of Shostakovich's fifteenth quartet. In 1977, final founding member and first violinist Dmitri Tsyganov departed and was replaced by

Oleh Krysa Oleh may refer to: * Oleh, Delta * Common Ukrainian male name, see also Oleg * A Jew immigrating to Israel (plural of oleh is olim Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, histo ...

. The group disbanded in 1987.

Personnel

Dates indicate the years of activity. ;Violin I * (1923–1977) *

(1977–1990) ;Violin II * (1923–1965) * Nikolai Zabavnikov (1965–1990) ;Viola *

(1923–1964) * Fyodor Druzhinin (1964–1988) * Mikhail Kugel (1988–1990) ;Cello * (1923–1974), alternative spelling: Sergey * Yevgeny Altman, alternative spellings: Evgeny Altman or Al'tman * * (1988–1990)

References

External links

Unofficial website and discography
{{Authority control Russian string quartets