Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet was founded in 1946 by William Schuman, who was the president of the Juilliard School in New York. The original members of the quartet were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd. The members of the quartet have changed a number of times over the course of the ensemble's career, but after more than 50 years of performances and recordings, the Juilliard Quartet has remained one of the most famous and well-respected string quartets in the world.
The Juilliard Quartet was born out of a need for committed performances of modern music and for a revitalized approach to the standard string quartet repertoire. When William Schuman, then the new president of the Juilliard School, proposed the formation of a resident string quartet to the board of directors in 1947, it was with the understanding that this group would, in his words, "embrace the entire repertoire of music," with the only stipulation being that its name would not be changed, no matter who the players were. The debut performances of the quartet were astonishingly successful, and critics remarked on the group's vigorous, dynamic playing, and the overwhelming intensity of each performance. More recent reviews continue to cite the Juilliard Quartet's passion, but also its "homogeneity" and "secure" sound, no doubt a product of its long and distinguished history.
The quartet has been recognized for giving equal reverence to both 20th-century music and past masterworks and has successfully performed not only works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Brahms, but also the music of Bartók, Berg, Schoenberg, and Shostakovich. The quartet is well-known in particular for its performances of the Beethoven string quartet cycle, but, it is also recognized as an important champion of contemporary American music, on average premiering one new work each year, if not more. Its American repertory includes music by Elliot Carter, Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Milton Babbitt.
The Juilliard Quartet is, of course, the quartet in residence at Juilliard, but also at the Library of Congress (since 1962) and at Michigan State University (since 1977). The library loaned the quartet its set of Stradivarius instruments as part of the residency. The quartet members are not only performers, but also apologists for modern music and teachers at Juilliard. They have helped nuture many other quartets, including the Emerson, Tokyo, La Salle, and Lark quartets. The ensemble has toured extensively throughout the world, and was the first American string quartet to visit the Soviet Union in 1961.
The quartet's discography includes recordings of the complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets; the Mendelssohn quartets; the string quartets of Haydn, Verdi, Schubert, and Sibelius; and the quintets of Mozart and Brahms. The quartet has also recorded music by Schoenberg, Webern, Beach, Barber, Carter, Smetana, Gould, Franck, and numerous other modern composers. For its recordings, the group has received four Grammy awards, a German Record Critics lifetime achievement award, Musical America's Musician of the Year (1996), and been inducted into the National Academy Recording Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.
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The Celebrated Early Recordings (1949-1952)
Chamber Music - Released by West Hill Radio Archives on 4 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: String Quartet NO. 1 in a Minore - String Quartet NO. 2 - String Quartet NO. 3 - String Quartet NO. 4 - String Quartet NO. 5 - String Quartet NO. 6 (Live)
Classical - Released by Altair on 7 Jul 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Cantate de l'enfant et de la mère & La muse ménagère (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 19 Jun 1950
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The Last String Quartets
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 14 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Juilliard Quartet, Vol. 3: Live at Library of Congress – Brahms Sextets
Juilliard String Quartet, Walter Trampler, Leslie Parnas, Bernard Greenhouse
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berg & Webern: Works for String Quartet (Stereo Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The Last String Quartets
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 14 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi & Sibelius: String Quartets (Instrumental)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 22 Jun 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Juilliard Quartet, Vol. 4: Live at Library of Congress – Mozart Quartets
Juilliard String Quartet, Lukas Foss, Julius Baker
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 13 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donald Martino & Fred Lerdahl: String Quartets
Classical - Released by NWCRI on 1 Jan 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Middle String Quartets
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 2 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hindemith: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 16 - String Quartet No. 5, Op. 32
Chamber Music - Released by wergo on 14 Apr 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Juilliard String Quartet: Great Collaborations
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 2 Jul 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Juilliard Quartet, Vol. 5: Live at Library of Congress – Schumann with Bernstein
Juilliard String Quartet, Leonard Bernstein
Chamber Music - Released by DOREMI on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mennin: String Quartet No. 2 - Imbrie: String Quartet in B-Flat Major (Remastered)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 18 Jan 1954
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven String Quartet No.11
Classical - Released by In Vinyl We Trust on 7 Oct 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven String Quartet No.14
Classical - Released by In Vinyl We Trust on 17 Nov 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: String Quartet NO.1 in D Minor OP. 7 - String Quartet NO. 2 in F Sharp Minor OP. 10 - String Quartet NO. 3, OP. 30 - String Quartet NO. 4, OP. 37 - Webern: Five Movements for String Quartet, OP. 5 - Berg: String Quartet, OP. 3 (Live)
Juilliard String Quartet, Uta Graf
Classical - Released by Altair on 13 Nov 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ives: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 14 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miniatures for Strings
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 14 Sep 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo