The Flonzaley Quartet was a string quartet organized in Manhattan, New York City in 1902. The group disbanded in 1929.

Personnel

The personnel of the group were as follows: *1st violin: (Bagni di Lucca, 21 March 1875 – Lucca, 2 December 1950). *2nd violin: Alfred Pochon (Yverdon, 30 July 1878 – Lutry, 26 February 1959). *viola: Ugo Ara (Venezia, 1876 – Lausanne, 1 December 1936), until 1917; replaced by Louis Bailly (Valenciennes, 13 June 1882 – Cowansville, Québec, 21 November 1974), until 1924; by Félicien d'Archambeau (? – ?), until 1925; by Nicolas Moldavan (Kremenetz, 23 January 1891 – New York, 21 September 1974), until disbanding in 1928. *violoncello: Iwan d'Archambeau (Herve, 1879 – Villefranche-sur-Mer, 29 December 1955). Violinist Frank Howell Holden frequently played with the group.

History

The quartet was the creation of Edward J. de Coppet of New York, who in 1903 engaged the original members to devote themselves entirely to quartet-playing, and not with any view to giving regular concerts in public.letter by E. de Coppet (Chexbres, le 12 août 1903)
/ref> The group took its name from de Coppet's summer

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near

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, in Switzerland, where the four musicians first rehearsed. After a long period of practice, the Quartet made a European tour and won high praise for the perfection of its ensemble and its artistic finish. Both violinists and the violist had been students of the Belgian maestro

César Thomson César Thomson (18 March 1857 – 21 August 1931) was a Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer. Biography He was born in Liège in 1857. At age seven, he entered the Royal Conservatory of Liège, and studied under Désiré Heynberg, Rodo ...

, who would also teach members of a contemporaneous pioneering American chamber group, the

Zoellner Quartet The Zoellner Quartet was a string quartet active during the first quarter of the 20th century. It was once described as "the most celebrated musical organization in the West which devotes its energies exclusively to the highest class of chamb ...

.Cariaga, Daniel, "Not Taking It with You: A Tale of Two Estates," ''Los Angeles Times''
December 22, 1985, accessed April 2012. The group was first heard in New York, in private and at charity concerts, in autumn 1904, but it did not give a public concert in the United States until 5 December 1905. After that it appeared regularly in Europe and America. The members stuck to the original principle of not accepting any outside engagement, and having no pupils, and by devoting themselves entirely to the quartet maintained a position of acknowledged superiority in their field. In 1914 the group asked Igor Stravinsky to write them a work. This resulted in his "Three pieces for String Quartet". A few years later they also commissioned him to write "Concertino", a one-movement work. Éduard de Coppet died in 1916, and his son André continued thereafter to maintain the Quartet. The original violist Ugo Ara left the group to join the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

army, resulting in his replacement. The Quartet performed worldwide until disbanding in 1929. One of their final public concerts was at The Town Hall in Manhattan, New York City on March 17, 1929. They broadcast their farewell concert over station WEAF (now WFAN) on May 7, 1929.

Legacy

Their recording of the Haydn 'Lark' quartet (below) could still be described as 'in prep.' in 1936.

Recordings

From 1913 until 1929, The Flonzaley made several acoustic and electrical recordings for the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

. Among their recordings of longer works are the following: *

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 ...

: Quartet Op 18 no 2 (V 1218–21/DA 851–854). * Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major op 127 (V 7629–33/DB 1377–81). * Beethoven: Quartet in F major op 135 (V 122–125/DA 847–850). *

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 with ...

: Quintet in F minor op 34 with

Harold Bauer Harold Victor Bauer (28 April 1873 – 12 March 1951) was a noted pianist of Jewish heritage who began his musical career as a violinist. Biography Harold Bauer was born in Kingston upon Thames; his father was a German violinist and his mot ...

, piano (V 6571–5/DB970-4). * Dohnányi: Quartet no 2 in D flat major op 15 (V 7354–6/DB 1135–7). *

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

: Quartet in D major op 64 no 5 (V 7650–1). * Mozart: Quartet in D minor K 421 (V 7607–8/DB 1357-8). * Mozart: Quartet in D major K 575 (DA 947–9 ('V 1585–7' not issued?)). *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: Quartet in G major op 161 (V 7475–8/DB 1373–6). *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

: Quintet in E flat major op 44 with

Ossip Gabrilowitsch Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch (Осип Сoломонович Габрилович, ''Osip Solomonovich Gabrilovich''; he used the German transliteration ''Gabrilowitsch'' in the West) (14 September 1936) was a Russian-born American pianist, ...

, piano (V 8092–5/DB 1191–4). * Smetana: Quartet no 1 in E minor (V 7130–2/DB 1359–61).

References

External links