The Walden String Quartet was a chamber music ensemble formed in 1934 by members of the Cleveland Orchestra. It was originally the idea of violinist Homer Schmitt and cellist Robert Swenson, who met in 1927. They recruited violinist Bernard Goodman and violist Leroy Collins for the original group. The viola chair changed many times until John Garvey joined in 1948. By 1935 the quartet were featured in half-hour network radio programs. In March 1936, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the quartet gave its first concert. In accord with their policy of emphasizing modern composers, the program included the

Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

String Quartet No 4, and quartets by composers

Quincy Porter William Quincy Porter (February 7, 1897 – November 12, 1966) was an American composer and teacher of classical music. Biography Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he went to Yale University where his teachers included Horatio Parker and David St ...

and

Normand Lockwood Normand Lockwood (March 19, 1906 – March 9, 2002) was an American composer born in New York, New York. He studied composition at the University of Michigan from 1921–1924, and then traveled to Rome and studied composition under Ottorino Respig ...

. By 1945, they had performed in over 70 radio programs and given 27 concerts at the museum. The quartet had several affiliations with educational institutions. For a while they were known as the "Walden Quartet of Cleveland College", referring to the adult education campus of Western Reserve University. In 1946 they became quartet-in-residence at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. The next year, following the move of Cornell's head of music to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, they became quartet-in-residence at that school with academic appointments, a first in the United States. The quartet remained there until it disbanded in the late 1970s. In 1949, the quartet was selected by the civil affairs division of the U.S. war department to tour Austria and Germany, as well as Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, and finally London, where they performed Quartet No.2 by Wallingford Riegger and

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

's Second String Quartet. The group premiered many 20th Century works including Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 1, which was dedicated to them.

Recordings

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References

{{authority control American string quartets 1934 establishments in Ohio Musical groups established in 1934