The English String Quartet was founded in 1902 by a group of students from the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

: Thomas F. Morris (1st violin), Herbert H. Kinsey (2nd violin),

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a ...

(viola) and

Ivor James Ivor James CBE (1882–1963)Percy A. Scholes. "James, Ivor". ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford University Press, 1964. was a British cellist. He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music; among his pupils were those who beca ...

(cello).British Library ''Sounds''
/ref> The name wasn't officially adopted until 1908. Morris left to join the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in 1915 and was replaced by Marjorie Hayward as leader. Bridge became an occasional player from the same year and was sometimes replaced by Alfred Hobday. Edwin Virgo took over as 2nd violin in 1918. The original group disbanded in 1925.Hindmarsh, Paul
'Frank Bridge: seeds of discontent'
in ''The Musical Times Vol. 132, No. 1775 (January 1991), pp. 695-698 The Quartet put on its own concert seasons and provisional tours, but also gave recitals at private houses, including the homes of Bridge's friend Marjorie Fass in London (

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...

) and

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

. They also played at Edgar Speyer's Classical Concerts Society and at other recital series. Their core repertoire was mostly classical -

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

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 also included the British premieres of the quartets of

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 ...

(in October 1904) and

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 ...

. In June 1909 the Quartet played the first performance of Bridge's String Quartet No 1 in London. Other British first performances included works by J D Davis and Percy Pitt. In the 1930s The New English String Quartet was formed with Winifred Small (1st), Eveline Thompson (2nd), Winifred Stiles (viola) and Florence Hooton (cello). During the late 1940s a version of the English String Quartet was touring with Kathleen Washbourne (1st), Belle Davidson (2nd), Jacqueline Townshend (viola) and Kathleen Moorhouse (cello). The English String Quartet re-emerged in the late 1950s, initially with Ruth Pearl as leader and then

Nona Liddell Nona Patricia Liddell (9 June 1927 – 13 April 2017) was a British violinist. She was a soloist, leader of chamber music ensembles, and a teacher. For many years she was leader of the London Sinfonietta. Early life She was born in Ealing, Lon ...

(leader 1957–1973), with (variously) Lesley White, Eleanor St George and Marilyn Taylor (2nd), Margorie Lempfert (viola) and Helen Just (cello). In 1982 Diana Cummings took over as leader with her husband Luciano Iorio (viola). At this point it became "a natural extension of the renowned Cummings String Trio", also including John Trusler (2nd violin) and Geoffrey Thomas (cello) from the Trio.Notes to Chandos CD 8392
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English String Quartet Musical groups established in 1902 English string quartets 1902 establishments in England