Austral String Quartet was a string quartet ensemble based in Sydney active from 1910 to 1916. The existence of some music group bearing such a name was advertised as early as 1908, but regular activity began with violinist

Cyril Monk Cyril Monk Cyril Farnsworth Monk (9 March 1882 – 7 March 1970) was an Australian violinist and academic. His wife was the pianist and composer Varney Monk. Life Monk was born in Surry Hills, Sydney in 1882, son of James Monk, a grocer, and wi ...

's leadership. Other members of his quartet were Anton Tschaikov (2nd violin),

Stephen Vost Janssen Stephen Vost Janssen (or Vost-Janssen; NovemberAn article
in ''Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advoca ...

(viola) and

Gladstone Bell William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

(cello). The first concert was held at the YMCA Hall (Sydney) on 2 June and included the Australian premiere of

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

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 ...

. The same year Bell returned to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and was replaced by Carl Gotsch. Early in 1911 Monk's teacher Alfred Hill took the second violin. By 1913 season he was replaced by

Ludwig D'Hage Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and c ...

(who moved to Sydney from

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of ...

the previous year).Ludwig D'Hage's biography
in the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' The quartet performed to ca.1916. Among Australian performances made by it were quartets by

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...

and

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

. It is most probable that the establishing of this quartet gave Alfred Hill an impulse to finish his two ''Maori'' quartets ( No. 1 and No. 2, both premiered in 1911) and compose

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

(1912).Lam, Y. C. (June 2006)
Analytical study of Alfred Hill’s String Quartet no. 2 in G minor (Thesis, Master of Arts)
University of Otago The most important predecessors of this quartet were the Zerbini String Quartet (founded ca.1885) and

Francis Mowat Carter Francis may refer to: People * Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

Sydney String Quartet Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. The notable role of the Austral Quartet was taken up in Sydney by

Verbrugghen String Quartet Verbrugghen String Quartet was a string quartet founded by Henri Verbrugghen. In 1903 Verbrugghen founded in Scotland a string quartet. When in 1916 he went to Australia, he took its members with him. All of them were engaged as professors at the ...

, members of which came to the city after

Henri Verbrugghen Henri Adrien Marie Verbrugghen (1 August 187312 November 1934) was a Belgian musician, who directed orchestras in England, Scotland, Australia and the United States. Born in Brussels, Verbrugghen made his first appearance as a violinist when ...

was appointed the director of New South Wales Conservatorium in 1916. In the late 1950s Another ensemble bearing the same name was established in Sydney.

Sources

Austral String Quartet
in the ''Dictionary of Sydney''

References

{{authority control Australian string quartets 1910 establishments in Australia