The Philadelphia String Quartet was an American

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 ...

founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 1959-60, by four members of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

. They later broke off from the orchestra and accepted a residency at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(UW).

History

The founding members of the Philadelphia String Quartet were all members of the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

. They included

Veda Reynolds Veda Reynolds (1922–2000) was an American violinist, string quartet player, and teacher. Early life and training Veda Reynolds was born in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1922. Her father, James Leroy Reynolds,. was concertmaster of the Denver Symp ...

, first violin, Irwin Eisenberg, second violin, Alan Iglitzin, viola, and Charles Brennand, cello. In 1961, the group was appointed quartet in residence at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. The original quartet made its New York City debut at Carnegie Hall during the 1963-64 season. The foursome resigned from the orchestra to become quartet-in-residence at the University of Washington (UW) in 1966. The move angered Philadelphia Orchestra management, which sued UW to prevent the quartet's departure, claiming a contract violation. The players eventually won the right to leave the orchestra. In 1966, the quartet moved to Seattle to become UW's Quartet-in-Residence, a position it held until 1982. A fiscal crisis at the university ended their 17-year long contract. In 1968, the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

invited the quartet to become the first American string quartet to perform in India. The two-month tour covered the entire country, with concerts played to great acclaim in 14 cities

During their 30-year tenure, the quartet repeatedly toured the world and recorded an extensive

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

repertoire. From 1976-77, the quartet played the entire cycle of quartets by

Ludwig van 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 ...

, including the Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Quartet No. 16 in F Major, and the Grosse Fugue. They championed new music, and had a close musical relationship with the American composer,

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serialism, serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the technique after his teenage son died in 1964, saying it had proved inadequate to expres ...

. They commissioned and premiered his 2nd quartet. They had a close relationship with Argentine composer

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...

. The Philadelphia String Quartet worked with Ginastera extensively before they performed the world premiere of his revised 2nd quartet. The founding quartet earned the Washington Governor's Arts Award. A quartet of their UW students won the Coleman Chamber Music competition prize. Their residency included relationships with Washington State University, Eastern Washington University and Central Washington University where the quartet held open rehearsals and performed with faculty members. Their LPs included works from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bergsma, Bercera, Chihara, and other living composers. PSQ with Stanley

Reynolds departure in 1975 marked the end of the quartet's original members. Violinist Stanley Ritchie filled the opening. Brennand died in 1976, replaced cellist Carter Enyeart. They performed the Beethoven Cycle at Meany Hall at UW, and continued to tour internationally. From 1983-1987 the quartet consisted of member
Karen Iglitzin
1st violinist and Iglitzin's daughter, Eisenberg, Alan Iglitzin, and Roger Lebow, followed by Alexander Segal. They performed across the US, including many university and community residencies. The quartet also toured Brazil, Columbia, and Chile in 1983 and India in 1985. In 1984, Alan Iglitzin founded the Concerts-in-the-Barn at the

Olympic Music Festival The Olympic Music Festival is a classical music event based in Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States ...

. It was awarded Best Classical Music Festival by readers of ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976, and it becam ...

''. Karen Iglitzin founded the "Chamber Music Institute" in 1984, which operated in the summer on the farm. Many teenagers came to live and study quartets with the Philadelphia String Quartet. Alumni included many who became professional players. The Olympic Music Festival name passed to another organization, but the original barn series continued. The name of the quartet was revived by violist Radhames Santos.

Members

1st violinists

* Co-founder,

, (b:1922-d: 2000) Served as 1st violinist from 1960-1975 * Stanley Ritchie, from 1975-1981 * Peter Marsh, from 1982-1983 * Karen Iglitzin, from 1983-1987 * Stefan Hersh, from 1988-1992

2nd violinists

* Co-founder, Irwin Eisenberg (1919-2014) Served as 2nd violinist from 1960-2000 * Roberta Hersh, from 1988-1992

Violist

* Co-founder: Alan Iglitzin (b:1931) Served as violist from 1960-2000

Cellists

* Co-founder, Charles Brennand (b:1929-d:1976) Served as cellist, 1960-1976 https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/01/archives/charles-brennand.htm * Carter Enyeart, 1976-1982 * Roger Lebow, 1982-1984 * Alexander Segal, 1985-1987 * Jennifer Culp, 1988-1992

References

{{Authority control American string quartets Musical groups established in 1960 1960 establishments in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Orchestra