The Conservatory String Quartet (CSQ) was a Canadian

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 ...

in residence at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

during the first half of the 20th century. The group actively performed in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

area and regularly toured throughout the Province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The quartet also notably toured to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1942 and 1943. The ensemble performed not only the standard string quartet repertoire but also performed new works by contemporary Canadian composers like Patricia Blomfield Holt,

Walter MacNutt Walter Louis MacNutt (2 June 1910 – 10 August 1996) was a Canadian organist, choir director, and composer. His compositional output includes numerous choral works, songs, pieces for solo organ, and works for orchestra, many of which have bee ...

, and

John Weinzweig John Jacob Weinzweig, (March 11, 1913 – August 24, 2006) was a Canadian composer of classical music. Weinzweig was born in Toronto. He went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, and studied music at the university. In 1937, he left for the United ...

. The ensemble was also heard many times on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

but never produced any recordings. Viggo Kihl 001

The CSQ was founded by

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 ...

ist Elie Spivak in 1929 at the behest of the conservatory's president,

Ernest MacMillan Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, (August 18, 1893 – May 6, 1973) was a Canadian orchestral conductor, composer, organist, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the ...

. The group's other original members consisted of violinist

Harold Sumberg Harold Sumberg (August 25, 1905 – January 6, 1994) was an American-born Canadian violinist, teacher, conductor, and adjudicator. Born in Rochester, New York, he studied violin with Carl Markees, Henry Holst, and Willy Hess at the Hochschu ...

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

Donald Heins Donald Heins (19 February 1878 – 1 January 1949) was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, organist, composer, and music educator of English birth. He notably founded the first professional orchestra in Ottawa, the Ottawa Symphony Orchest ...

, and

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Leo Smith. The ensemble gave its debut performance on 26 October 1929 with guest artists Alberto Guererro, Norah Drewett de Kresz, Florence Singer,

Viggo Kihl Viggo, also spelled Wiggo, is a Nordic male name. There are two main theories about its origins: * a latinised form of the Old Norse name Vigge, which is also found in the form of other Germanic names, such as Ludvig. It stems from old Norse 'vig ...

, and MacMillan. On 19 January 1932 the quartet premiered Smith's ''Quartet in D''. In 1934 Heins left the CSQ and was succeeded by violist

Tom Brennand Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. Brennand left three years later and was replaced by

Cecil Figelski Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

. In 1942 cellist

Zara Nelsova Zara Nelsova (December 23, 1918October 10, 2002) was a prominent cellist. Biography Nelsova was born as Sara Katznelson in Winnipeg, Canada, to parents of Jewish-Russian descent. Nelsova first performed at the age of five in Winnipeg. She eventu ...

joined the group after the departure of Smith. Both Nelsova and Figelski left in 1944 and the group then added

Joyce Sands Joyce may refer to: People * Joyce (name), list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Joyce, (born 1948), Brazilian singer-songwriter * James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish modernist writer Places * Joyce, Washington, an ...

and Harold Carter to their numbers. At the time of the group's disbandment in 1946, the ensemble consisted of violinist

Pearl Palmason A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

Goldie Bell Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...

, and Carter, and Sands. The group was disestablished largely due to illnesses faced by some of its members.

References

{{authority control Canadian string quartets Musical groups established in 1929 Musical groups disestablished in 1946