The Rosé Quartet was a

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 ...

formed by Arnold Rosé in 1882. It was active for 55 years, until 1938.

Members

Its members changed over time. Rosé was first

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

throughout. Julius Egghard Jr. played the second violin at first; then it was Albert Bachrich, until 1905 when Paul Fischer joined. Violist was initially Anton Loh, then Hugo von Steiner until 1901 when Anton Ruzitska came on; after 1920, Max Handl played the viola. Eduard Rosé, Arnold’s brother, had been a founding member of the ensemble playing 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 ...

, but left after one season to get married and was replaced by Reinhold Hummer, who was in turn replaced by Friedrich Buxbaum; cellist

Anton Walter Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".Latcham (2009) Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and S ...

joined in 1921, but later on Buxbaum rejoined. The group's peak period was between 1905 and 1920, with Rosé, Fischer, Ruzitska, and Buxbaum.

Repertoire

The quartet's repertoire was based around 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 ...

, but many contemporary composers also benefited from the quartet's support, including

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

Associations

The group participated in the Vienna premieres of works by Brahms, including his Clarinet Quintet and his Quintet in G major Opus 111. It also premiered Schoenberg's first and second string quartets and participated in the premiere of Verklärte Nacht along with two members of the

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

: Franz Jelinek, viola, and Franz Schmidt, violoncello. Among the quartet's performing collaborators were Julius Röntgen, Johannes Brahms, Franz Steiner,

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...

, and Richard Mühlfeld. The quartet also made recordings.

References in popular culture

* Baroness Lemburg in The White Liars by Peter Shaffer claims that her father played with "The Rosé String Quartet" and knew them intimately.

References

*
String Quartets
*

External links

First Chapter of Alma Rose book
containing information about the quartet {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose Quartet Establishments in the Empire of Austria (1867–1918) Musical groups established in 1882 Musical groups disestablished in 1938 Musical groups from Vienna Austrian string quartets Organizations established in 1882