Help me spice up the story of string quartets

April 7, 2007 12:33 PM

StringQuartetFilter: Help a non-string player find interesting string quartet facts: important ensembles, historical trivia, significant accomplishments, etc.

I'm not looking for specific compositions - those are easy for me to find. I'm looking for info on ensembles: who they are/were and why they're important/intriguing/compelling. I've read the New Grove entry on string quartets, but while it mentions certain ensembles, it doesn't say much about them. Funny/quirky stories welcome in addition to plain old historical info. All eras are game, from Haydn & co. to present day.

posted by bassjump to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

it may be the most obvious answer, but check out the kronos quartet ... they have a pretty long and varied history.

there's also the interesting story of karlheinz stockhausen and the helikopter-streichquartett, if you're looking for quirky and unusual.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 12:45 PM on April 7, 2007

I don't know if it's available on dvd, but maybe a public library would have "High Fidelity - The Adventures of the Guarneri String Quartet". It's a documentary where they followed the memembers of the quartet for a year, I think. It's been a long while since I've seen it.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 3:50 PM on April 7, 2007

Arnold Steinhardt, the first violin of the Guarneri String Quartet, wrote Indivisible by Four: A String Quartet in Pursuit of Harmony (1998). Lots of string quartet culture and anecdotes about the Guarneri, which has been the oldest quartet in continuous existence for some time now. It's a pretty good read!
posted by gum at 12:04 PM on April 9, 2007