The Rosé Quartet was a

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 violinist ...

formed by Arnold Rosé in 1882. It was active for 55 years, until 1938.

Members

Its members changed over time. Rosé was first

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 regu ...

throughout. Julius Egghard Jr. played the second violin at first; then it was Albert Bachrich, until 1905 when Paul Fischer joined. Violist was initially Anton Loh, then Hugo von Steiner until 1901 when Anton Ruzitska came on; after 1920, Max Handl played the viola.

Eduard Rosé Eduard Rosé (born Eduard Rosenblum (29 March 1859 – 24 January 1943) was a German cellist and concert master. Life Born in Iași (Romania), Born "Rosenblum", Rosé received his artistic education at the conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Mu ...

, Arnold’s brother, had been a founding member of the ensemble playing the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

, but left after one season to get married and was replaced by Reinhold Hummer, who was in turn replaced by Friedrich Buxbaum; cellist

Anton Walter Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".Latcham (2009) Life Walter was born in Neuha ...

joined in 1921, but later on Buxbaum rejoined. The group's peak period was between 1905 and 1920, with Rosé, Fischer, Ruzitska, and Buxbaum.

Repertoire

The quartet's repertoire was based around the works of Haydn,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

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 classic ...

, but many contemporary composers also benefited from the quartet's support, including

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Associations

The group participated in the Vienna premieres of works by Brahms, including his Clarinet Quintet and his Quintet in G major Opus 111. It also premiered Schoenberg's first and second string quartets and participated in the premiere of Verklärte Nacht along with two members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra: Franz Jelinek, viola, and Franz Schmidt, violoncello. Among the quartet's performing collaborators were

Julius Röntgen Julius Engelbert Röntgen (9 May 1855 – 13 September 1932) was a German-Dutch composer of classical music. He was a friend of Liszt, Brahms and Grieg. Life Julius Röntgen was born in Leipzig, Germany, to a family of musicians. His father, ...

, Johannes Brahms, Franz Steiner,

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

, and

Richard Mühlfeld Richard Bernhard Herrmann Mühlfeld (February 28, 1856 – June 1, 1907) was a German clarinettist who inspired Johannes Brahms and Gustav Jenner to write chamber works including the instrument. The pieces that Brahms wrote for him are the '' ...

. The quartet also made recordings.

References in popular culture

* Baroness Lemburg in The White Liars by Peter Shaffer claims that her father played with "The Rosé String Quartet" and knew them intimately.

References

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String Quartets
*

External links

First Chapter of Alma Rose book
containing information about the quartet {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose Quartet Establishments in the Empire of Austria (1867–1918) Musical groups established in 1882 Musical groups disestablished in 1938 Musical groups from Vienna Austrian string quartets 1882 establishments