The Hellmesberger Quartet was a string quartet formed in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1849. It was founded by

Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. Josef Hellmesberger Sr. (3 November 182824 October 1893) was an Austrian violinist, conductor, and composer. Born in Vienna, he was the son of musician and pedagogue, Georg Hellmesberger Sr. (1800–1873), and was taught violin by his fath ...

and was the first permanent named String Quartet.

Composition

Violinist

Leopold Jansa Leopold Jansa (23 March 1795, Wildenschwert ( cs, Ústí nad Orlicí), far north-east Bohemia, Austrian Empire – 25 January 1875, Vienna) was a Bohemian violinist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Wildenschwert, Austria-Hungary (present ...

had started a string quartet in 1845. Hellmesberger took over from Jansa in 1849, retaining the other members. Its initial composition was: *

(1st

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 ...

) *

Carl Heissler Carl or Karl Heissler (18 January 1823 – 13 November 1878) was an Austrian violinist and violist. Biography He studied with Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr., Matthias Durst and Joseph Böhm at the Academy of the Vienna Music Friends Society. In 1 ...

(2nd violin) * Matthias Durst (

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 ...

) * Carl Schlesinger (

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 ...

) The quartet's composition remained "pretty constant until the mid-1860s".Potter, '' The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet'', p.44 At one point, the composition was: *Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. (1st violin) *

Adolph Brodsky Adolph Davidovich Brodsky (russian: Адольф Давидович Бродский, ''Adolf Davidovič Brodskij''; – 22 January 1929) was a Russian violinist. He enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a performer and teacher, starting ear ...

(2nd violin), left Vienna in 1870 *

Sigismund Bachrich Sigismund Bachrich (23 January 1841 – 16 July 1913), aka Sigmund Bachrich or Siegmund Bachrich, was a Hungarian composer, violinist, and violist of Jewish origin. He was born in Žabokreky in 1841. He studied violin at the Vienna Conservat ...

(viola) *

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 J ...

(cello), from 1868 to 1870 Hellmesberger's son, Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., joined the quartet in 1870 to play the second violin and became leader in 1891. Ferdinand Hellmesberger, the son of Joseph Sr. and brother of Joseph Jr., joined in 1883 to play the cello.

Importance

The Quartet played an important role in Vienna's musical life through the performance of quartets from

Ludwig van 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 classical ...

, Johannes Brahms, and

Franz 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 ...

, premiering several of Brahms' and Schubert's chamber works.''Hellmesberger family biographies'' under External links It commissioned and premiered Antonín Dvořák's String Quartet No. 11, Op. 61, composed in 1881. The programme of the opening concert on November 4, 1849 included

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

's Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3,

Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conducting, conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten Sy ...

's Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 124, and Beethoven's Quartet in F, Op. 59 No. 1.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Biographies of members of the Hellmesberger family
*Frederick H. Martens
"Violin Mastery: Talks with master violinists and teachers"
at Project Gutenberg, including information about the Hellmesberger Quartet
Hellmesberger family biographies
{{Authority control 1849 establishments in the Austrian Empire Musical groups established in 1849 Austrian string quartets Musical groups from Vienna Hellmesberger family