The Végh Quartet was a
Hungarian 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 1940 and led by its first violinist
Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century.
Education
Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Tr ...
for 40 years. The quartet was based in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
until it departed
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
in 1946. It is particularly known for its recordings of the
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 ...
(recorded twice – 1952 mono and 1972-4 stereo) and
Bartók cycles. The quartet disbanded in 1980.
Personnel
The personnel from 1940 to 1978 were:
*
Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century.
Education
Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Tr ...
(violin)
*
Sándor Zöldy (violin)
*
Georges Janzer (viola)
* Paul Szabo (cello)
In 1978
Philipp Naegele replaced Sándor Zöldy, and
Bruno Giuranna
Bruno Giuranna (born 6 April 1933 in Milan) is an Italian violist.
Giuranna was also responsible for a transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations
The ''Goldberg Variations'', BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Se ...
replaced Georges Janzer.
Origins
Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century.
Education
Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Tr ...
, a pupil of
Jenő Hubay and
Zoltán Kodály at
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
Academy, led the
Hungarian Quartet The Hungarian String Quartet was a musical ensemble of world renown, particularly famous for its performances of quartets by Beethoven and Bartók. The quartet was founded in Budapest in 1935 (as the New Hungarian Quartet) and was disbanded in 197 ...
from its foundation in 1935 until 1937, when he ceded the first violin desk to
Zoltán Székely
Zoltán Székely ( Hungarian: Székely Zoltán; 8 December 1903 in Kocs, Hungary – 5 October 2001 in Banff, Canada) was a violinist and composer.
Biography
Székely studied violin with Jenő Hubay and composition with Zoltán Kodály at the ...
, and went to the second in the place of Péter Szervánsky: Denes Koromzay was the viola and Vilmos Palotai the 'cello. Székely was a friend of
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
, and the group became rapidly known by giving the premiere performance of the Bartók 5th Quartet, which it studied with the composer. By 1938, the group had been heard in every major city of Western Europe. In 1940 Végh left to found his own quartet.
The Vegh Quartet was founded in Budapest and was based there during the War, but left Hungary in 1946 and settled in Paris. They won the Grand Prix at Geneva at its first international music festival 1946. The 1952 recording of the Beethoven quartets was made in
Boston, Massachusetts. The personnel of the quartet remained the same for almost 40 years. Then, in 1978 the second violin and viola left the group. (The original violist, Georges Janzer, and his wife, cellist Eva Czako, went on to teach at the
Indiana University School of Music
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...
, alongside Czako's childhood teacher,
János Starker. The Janzers also made a number of recordings of chamber music with the legendary Belgian violinist
Arthur Grumiaux.) They were both replaced, but after two more years the ensemble was disbanded.
In 1958, the Quartet completed an acclaimed tour of Southern Africa
The Vegh quartet's visit to Southern Africa
/ref>
Recordings
*Beethoven: Quartets, recorded 1952, Les Discophiles Français. ( A modern review
*Kodály – String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10, issued 1954. (Decca LP LXT2876: London LP LL-865)*
*Smetana – String Quartet No. 1 in E flat, issued 1954. (Decca LP LXT2876: London LP LL-865)*
(*These reissued in a joint remastering by Dr John Duffy & Andrew Rose, October 2008, for Pristine Audio, PACM061. Personnel: Végh, Zöldy, Janzer, Szabo. Se
*Mozart – Quartets no 14 in G major K 387 'Spring': no 15 in D minor K 421 (417b): no 17 in Bb major K 458 'Hunt': no 18 in A major K 464: no 21 in D major K 575: no 23 in F major K 590. Studio recordings in Paris, 1951–1952, Les Discophiles Français. (Archipel 2-CD set)
*Mozart – Adagio & Fugue in C minor K546. (Les Discophiles Français LP)
*Brahms – Quartet no 1 op 51 no 1: Clarinet Quintet (with Antoine-Pierre de Bavier
Antoine-Pierre de Bavier, also known as Antoine de Bavier and Anton von Bavier was a twentieth-century Swiss clarinettist and orchestral conductor.
De Bavier was a pupil of the clarinetist Luigi Amodio and of Wilhelm Furtwängler. His earlier c ...
).
*Brahms – Quartets no 2 in A minor op 51 no 2: no 3 in Bb major op 67, recorded 1954. (Decca Heritage CD 475 6155)
*Bartók – 6 Quartets, recorded 1954–1956.
*Beethoven Quartets, complete in Stereo version, 1972-4. (Telefunken) (A modern review
*Bartók – 6 Quartets, recorded 1972 (Astrée).
*Schubert – Quartet no 15 in G major D 887 (Op. posth. 161). (Orfeo CD)
External links
A Biographical notice
Review of Bartok recordings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vegh Quartet
Musical groups established in 1940
Hungarian string quartets
Musical groups disestablished in 1980