The Gebrüder Müller (“Müller Brothers”) was the name of two noted

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

)

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

s both composed of four brothers.

Players in the senior quartet

The elder brothers were the sons as well as pupils of the principal musician to the Duke of Brunswick, Ägidius Christoph Müller (1765–1841), and were all of them born in the city of Brunswick. Karl (Carl) Friedrich Müller (1797–1873) was

first violin The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the most significant ...

in the quartet and was also

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

to the Duke. Theodor Heinrich Müller (1799–1855) was the viola player. August Theodor Müller (1802–75) played the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, and Franz Ferdinand Georg Müller (1808–55) was the second violin. They were especially educated by their father for quartet work, and were conceded to have brought the art of string quartet playing to a degree of perfection previously unknown. The Müller brothers were ambitious for greater fame than could be obtained within their own limited environment, but their employer, the Duke of Brunswick, had stipulated that none of his musicians should participate in any musical performance outside that connected with his own corps. So in 1830 they resigned their employment. Their first appearance outside Brunswick was in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, where they met with such success that they were invited to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where they were received with great enthusiasm. An extended tour throughout Germany followed, and in 1837 they performed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Other tours made them known throughout the world. They confined their programmes almost entirely to the works of

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, and were also a very important influence in cultivating

music appreciation Music appreciation is a division of musicology that is designed to teach students how to understand and describe the contexts and creative processes involved in music composition. The concept of music appreciation is often taught as a subset of ...

The younger Müller quartet

The so-called younger Müller quartet was formed in 1855 by four sons of Karl Friedrich Müller. This quartet existed till 1873. * 1st violin: Karl Müller-Berghaus (14 April 1829 – 11 November 1907), also known as a conductor and a composer. As he took a position of a conductor in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, his place in the quartet was taken by

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer (; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Auer was born in ...

. * 2nd violin: Hugo Müller (21 September 1832 – 26 June 1886). * Viola: Bernhard Müller (24 February 1825 – 4 September 1895). * Cello: Wilhelm Müller (1 June 1834 – September 1897).Riemann, Hugo
''Riemanns Musik-Lexikon.''
10th ed., p. 862. Max Hesses Verlag, Berlin. 1922.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller German string quartets Musicians from Braunschweig People from the Duchy of Brunswick