Lindsay Quartet

The Lindsay String Quartet (or The Lindsays) was a British string quartet from 1965 to 2005.

History

The quartet first performed at the Royal Academy of Music in 1965 to compete for a prize and set out to make the string quartets of Bartók and Beethoven the centre of their repertoire. In 1967, the quartet was appointed to be Leverhulme Scholars at Keele University, and in 1970, it changed its name from the Cropper to the Lindsay String Quartet, naming itself after Lord Lindsay, the founder of Keele University. 1971 brought a change in second violin to Ronald Birks. The quartet gained a Gramophone Award for the Late Beethoven Quartets in 1984. Roger Bigley left the quartet in 1985 to be replaced by Robin Ireland. Bigley then became assistant principal viola of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra before becoming assistant head of strings at the RNCM.

In 1974, they became Quartet-in-Residence at Sheffield University and five years later held a similar position at Manchester University, where they performed a regular concert season, directed seminars, and coached chamber ensembles. The quartet presented festivals each year at the Studio Theatre in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, which featured many famous local and international musicians, and travelled widely throughout the world.

In 2005, after 39 years, the quartet announced their intended retirement the following year. They then performed a very successful series of farewell concerts throughout the world, culminating in four final concerts in their home town of Sheffield in July 2005. Individual members afterwards pursued separate musical ideas.

The quartet have produced an extensive list of recordings, including a highly acclaimed Beethoven cycle, and substantial parts of the Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Dvorak repertoires.

In 2019, a book titled ''A Quintessential Quartet: The Story of the Lindsay String Quartet'' was written by Bernard Gregor-Smith, one of the founding members of the Lindsay String Quartet.

Leader Peter Cropper (19 November 1945 – 29 May 2015) was the founding Artistic Director of Music in the Round, a charitable organisation he founded in the 1980s, that promotes chamber music concerts in Sheffield and nationally. The Lindsays formed the core of Music in the Round's activity for over twenty years, until their retirement. Cropper died suddenly in 2015 aged 69. Peter Cropper obituary in The Guardian
4 June 2015, retrieved 5 May 2015.

Members

* Peter Cropper (first violin)
*Michael Adamson (second violin, 196571)
*Ronald Birks (second violin, 19712005)
*Roger Bigley (viola, 196585)
*Robin Ireland (viola, 19852005)
*Bernard Gregor-Smith (cello)

Awards

Gramophone Award - 1984

Honorary Doctorate - Keele University, 1986

Honorary Doctorate - Sheffield Hallam University, 1990

Honorary Doctorate - University of Leicester, 1998

Honorary Doctorate - University of Sheffield, 2001

Honorary Doctorate - University of Manchester, 2005

Books

A Quintessential Quartet: The Story of the Lindsay String Quartet written by Bernard Gregor-Smith

Art

The Lindsay String Quartet (Peter Cropper; Ronald Birks; Robin Ireland; Bernard Gregor-Smith) Hanging in The National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom , by György Gordon , oil on canvas, 2003 , Primary Collection , NPG 6649

ASV Lindsay String Quartet discography

BEETHOVEN: String Quartets "Rasumovsky" No.7, Nos.8 & 9 CD DCA 553, 554


BEETHOVEN: String Quartets Nos.12-16 & Grosse Fuge CD DCA 601, 602, 603 & 604


BEETHOVEN: String Quartets (The New Cycle):
:Opus 18, Nos. 1, 2 & 3 CD DCA 1111
:Opus 18, Nos. 4/5. Opus 14. CD DCA 1112
:Opus 18, No. 6. Quintet Op.29. CD DCA 1113
:Opus 59, "Razumovsky" Nos. 1 & 3 CD DCA 1114
:Opus 59, No.2 and Opus 74. CD DCA 1115
:Opus 95, Opus 127. CD DCA 1116
:Op.130 & Grosse Fuge Op.133 CD DCA 1117
:Op.132 & Quintet Op.104 CD DCA 1118
:Op.131 & Op.135 CD DCA 1119


BARTOK: String Quartets

:Nos. 1 & 2 DCA 510
:Nos. 3 & 4 DCA 509
:Nos. 5 & 6 DCA 504


BORODIN:


String Quartets Nos. 1+2, String Sextet (with L. Williams, R. Wallfisch) CD DCA 1143

BRAHMS / SCHUMANN:


Piano Quintets (with P. Frankl) CD DCA 728

MENDELSSOHN : String Quartet No. 6 & BRAHMS : String Quartet No. 2 CD QS 6173


HAYDN: The Seven Last Words CD DCA 853


HAYDN: String Quartets “Sun” Op.20 - Nos.1, 3 & 4 CD DCA 1027


HAYDN: String Quartets “Sun” Op.20 - Nos.2, 5 & 6 CD DCA 1057


HAYDN: String Quartets Op.33 - Nos.1, 2 "The Joke"& 4 CD DCA 937


HAYDN: String Quartets Op.33 - Nos.3 "The Bird",5 & 6 CD DCA 938


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.54 "Tost I" CD DCA 582


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.55 CD DCA 906


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.64 (part 1) CD DCA 1083


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.64 (part 2) CD DCA 1084


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.76 (part 1) CD DCA 1076


HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op.76 (part 2) CD DCA 1077


Haydn: String Quartets Op.50 Nos. 1-3 CD GLD 4007


Haydn: String Quartets Op.50 Nos. 4-6 CD GLD 4008


Haydn: String Quartets Op.74 Nos. 1-3 CD GLD 40132


Hadyn: String Quartets Op.77 Nos. 1-2, Op.42, Op.103 CD GLD 40102

MOZART: Quartet K387 / String Quintet K516 CD DCA 923


MOZART: Quartet K458 "The Hunt" / Horn Quintet / Oboe Quartet CD DCA 968


MOZART: Quartet K428 / String Quintet K515 CD DCA 992


MOZART: Quartet K421 / String Quintet K593 CD DCA 1018


MOZART: Clarinet Quintet/String Quintet K464 CDDCA 1042


MOZART: Quartet K465 / String Quintet K614 CD DCA 1069

RAVEL & DEBUSSY: String Quartets / STRAVINSKY: 3 Pieces CD DCA 930

SCHUBERT:String Quintet (with Douglas Cummings - cello) CD DCA 537


SCHUBERT:String Quartets Nos.8 & 13 "Rosamunde" CD DCA 593


SCHUBERT:String Quartets Nos.12 & 14 "Death and the Maiden" CD DCA 560


SCHUBERT:String Quartet No.15 CD DCA 661

TIPPETT: String Quartet No.4 / BRITTEN: String Quartet No.3 CD DCA 608

"THE BOHEMIANS"


JANACEK: The 2 String Quartets "Kreutzer Sonata" & "Intimate Letters" / DVORAK: Cypresses CD DCA 749


SMETANA: The 2 String Quartets / DVORAK: Romance & 2 Waltzes CD DCA 777


DVORAK: String Quartets Nos.10 & 14 CD DCA 788


DVORAK: String Quartets Nos.12 "The American" & 13 CD DCA 797


DVORAK: Bagatelles / String Quintet "The American" CD DCA 806


DVORAK & MARTINU: Piano Quintets (with Peter Frankl - piano) CD DCA 889

References

Bigley, Roger (1981). ''Beethoven String Quartets Op.59 'Razumovsky, CD liner notes. Academy Sound and Vision Ltd.

External links

Member links

Peter Cropper

Robin Ireland

Bernard Gregor-Smith

Tributes

Music in the Round's Tribute to Peter Cropper

Music and videos

BBC Omnibus Episode, 1977Beethoven String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130 - 5. CavatinaThe Lindsays YouTube Channel

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay Quartet
Musical groups established in 1965
Musical groups disestablished in 2005
English string quartets
1965 establishments in the United Kingdom
2005 disestablishments in the United Kingdom