Budapest String Quartet
Founded in 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the Budapest Quartet became the most internationally successful chamber ensemble of modern times. Across 50 years, and a repertory ranging from Mozart to Bartok, the group brought chamber music of these composers to audiences on two continents, and further popularized the music through their recordings.
The Budapest Quartet's original members were Emil Hauser, Imre Poganyi, Istvan Ipolyi, and Harry Son, all of whom had played in the Budapest Opera Orchestra. Their debut concert in 1917, at Kolozsvar in Hungary, was a great success, and by the early 1920's they'd begun touring Europe. The group was acclaimed by audiences and critics everywhere for their superb ensemble playing and the depth and insight that they brought to their repertory, which extended from the Classical to the contemporary, including the quartets of Bartok and Kodaly.
The group flourished during the late 1920's and early 1930's despite numerous membership changes. Joseph Roisman, who joined on second violin in 1927, became the leader of the group a few years later, replacing Emil Hauser in the 1930's. Ipolyi was succeeded by Alexander Schneider, while Son was replaced by Schneider's brother Mischa, and in 1936 Boris Kroyt joined on the viola.
The second generation Budapest Quartet was, if anything, even more technically impressive than the first, more incisive in its playing and overall faster, with more frequent (and modern) use of vibrato. Roisman's leadership brought the group to America, at first simply on tour, and also into the recording studio in a serious way for the first time. From 1938 onward, amid the growing uncertainty of life in Europe, the Budapest Quartet moved to the United States and was based for the next 24 years as the quartet-in-residence at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., before moving to the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1962. Among their more notable work for the Library of Congress, they recorded Schubert's "Trout" Quintet and other works with the conductor George Szell on the piano during 1945 and 1946. Their major commercial recording activity, however, was done for Columbia Masterworks (now Sony Classical) beginning in the early 1950's.
Key to the group's repertory during their American era were the Beethoven quartets, which they recorded several times and performed complete nearly every year. For performances of the quintets, they were augmented with the presence of Milton Katims and Walter Trampler. Their work continued until 1967, when they gave their last performance. The ravages of age and illness forced the retirement of Mischa Schneider, and then Roisman and Kroyt.
The Budapest Quartet was among the most honored and respected chamber ensembles of the early and middle twentieth century, an era in which the orchestra was the dominant force in classical music. The performances of the original quartet brought the chamber music of such varies composers and Mozart and Bartok to a wider audience than ever before, and the later group's embrace of the Beethoven quartets and quintets, in concert and on record, gave these works the best hearings they had in modern times.
© Bruce Eder
Note: The Budapest Quartet left behind many dozens of recordings, going back at least to the period in which Ipolyi was still with the group. All are worth sampling, and the list below is simply a very tiny overview of potential starting points from different periods and in various price ranges and configurations.
Beethoven String Quartets Op. 59 Nos. 1-3 Sony [8]
String Quartets Op. 18 Sony [9]
Ravel String Quartet (w/Debussy Quartet) Sony [7]
Schubert Trout Quintet etc. (w/George Szell) Bridge [8]
Trout Quintet etc. Sony [7]
Sibelius et al Various Biddulph [8] /TiVo
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Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 5 & 6 (Mono Version)
Budapest String Quartet, Walter Trampler
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 & String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Apr. 13, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Quartet No. 6 in F Maj. Op.96 "American" and Quartet No. 3 in E-Flat Maj. Op.51
Classical - Released by Soundmark on Dec. 1, 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 "Harp"
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Apr. 13, 2018
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3 & 10
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Apr. 5, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Schubert: Piano Quintets (Live)
Budapest String Quartet, Josef Roismann, George Szell, Boris Kroyt, Mischa Schneider, Georges E. Moleux
Chamber Music - Released by Bridge Records on Jan. 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: String Quartets (Rarity Collection - Remastered Version)
Budapest String Quartet, George Szell
Classical - Released by Classical Digital Remasterings on Jan. 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: String Quartet Op. 10 by the Budapest String Quartet (2023 Remastered)
Budapest String Quartet, Hollywood String Quartet
Classical - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on Sep. 7, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Les 17 quatuors à cordes, vol. 2 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 In a Minor, Op. 132 (Recordings of 1943)
Pop - Released by GazzaLadra on Mar. 31, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Quatuors à cordes Op. 76, Nos. 2 - 4 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 & String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Apr. 13, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 25 - Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 (Live)
Artur Balsam, Budapest String Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Bridge Records on Jun. 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 19, 20 & 23
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Jan. 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 – Schubert: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 114, D. 667 (Live)
Budapest String Quartet, George Szell, Josef Roisman, Edgar Ortenberg, Boris Kroyt, Mischa Schneider
Chamber Music - Released by Archipel on Jan. 8, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius, Grieg & Wolf: Chamber Works
Budapest String Quartet, Joseph Roisman, Alexander Schneider, Istvàn Ipolyi, Boris Kroyt, Mischa Schneider
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Nov. 6, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Chamber Works (Live)
Gustave Langenus, George Szell, Budapest String Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Bridge Records on Jan. 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Quatuor à cordes Nos. 12 & 14 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Chamber Music
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on May 6, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven string quartet collection, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by ArnebAudio on Dec. 15, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Les 17 quatuors à cordes, vol. 1 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo