The Artemis Quartet is a German

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 ...

, founded in 1989 in Lübeck, and now based in Berlin. The quartet is named for the

Greek goddess A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

of hunting and the wilderness.

History

The first members of the Artemis Quartet, Wilken Ranck, Isabel Trautwein, Volker Jacobsen, and Eckart Runge, met as students in Lübeck. Heime Müller replaced Isabel Trautwein in 1991. For personal and health reasons, Wilken Ranck left the quartet in 1994, and Volker Jacobsen and Heime Müller left at the end of the 2006/07 season. Natalia Prishepenko, the subsequent first violinist of the quartet, resigned after 18 years of membership in the ensemble in 2012. Newer members were Gregor Sigl (2nd violin), the violist Friedemann Weigle (until his death in July 2015) and the Latvian violinist Vineta Sareika (1st violin). In 2016, Anthea Kreston joined as the group's new second violinist and toured with the quartet until 2019. In April 2019, violinist Suyoen Kim and cellist Harriet Krijgh joined the ensemble. In May 2021, the quartet announced a hiatus in its activities, with the intention to regroup in the future. The recordings of the ensemble were awarded several prizes, recently including the ECHO Klassik 2006 for their recording of the Beethoven Quartets Op. 95 and 59/1. The quartet was awarded the German Critics' Prize 2001, and the

Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany The Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany (german: link=no, Würth-Preis der Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland) has been awarded since 1991 to artists, ensembles or projects who implement 's (JMD) values and objectives in an exemplary manner. ...

2007. In 2015 the quartet was again awarded the ECHO Klassik in the category of chamber music recording of the year.

Discography

The Artemis Quartet has had an exclusive recording contract with Virgin Classics/EMI since 2005. Their discography includes *

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 ...

: String Quartets Opp. 59 & 95 (2005) * Ligeti: String Quartet Nos 1 & 2 (2005) *'' Verklärte Nacht'' (2006) * Dvořák, Janáček: String Quartets (2006) * Schumann, Brahms: Piano Quintets with Leif Ove Andsnes (2006) * Schubert: String Quintet in C & String Quartet No. 703 with Truls Mørk (2007)"Benchmark recordings of Schubert masterpieces." ''Stradivarius'' September 2012;123(1469):105
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Accessed 10 July 2014. *Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 4 & Op. 59 No. 2 (2008) *Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 130 No. 133 & Op. 18 No. 6 (2010) *Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 1 & Op. 127 (2010) *Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No. 5, Op. 18 No. 3, Op. 135 (2011) *Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (2011) *Schubert: String Quartets No. 13-15: Rosamunde, Death and the Maiden, String Quartet No. 15 (2012)

Members

* 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 ...

: Wilken Ranck (1989–1994), Natalia Prishepenko (1994–2012), Vineta Sareika (2012–present) * 2nd Violin: Isabel Trautwein (1989–1991), Heime Müller (1991–2007), Gregor Sigl (2007–2016), Anthea Kreston (2016–2019), Suyoen Kim (2019–present) *

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 ...

: Volker Jacobsen (1989–2007), Friedemann Weigle (2007–2015), Gregor Sigl (2016-present) * Violoncello: Eckart Runge (1989–2019),

Harriet Krijgh Harriet Krijgh (born 1991) is a Dutch cellist. Life She received her first cello lessons at the age of five. In 2000, she was accepted into the young talent class at the Utrechts Conservatorium, where she was taught by Lenian Benjamins. In 2004 ...

(2019-present)

References

External links

* {{authority control German string quartets Erato Records artists Musical groups established in 1989