Emerson String Quartet

The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, was an American string quartet initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touring professionally in 1976. The ensemble taught in residence at The Hartt School in the 1980s and is currently the quartet in residence at Stony Brook University. Both of the founding violinists studied with Oscar Shumsky at Juilliard, and the two alternated as first and second violinists for the group. The Emerson Quartet was one of the first such ensembles with the two violinists alternating chairs.

The Emerson Quartet was inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2010. As of May 2014, they had released more than thirty albums and won nine Grammy Awards, as well as the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in 2004. In 2017, the Emerson String Quartet Institute became part of the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University. The institute enables members of the current quartet and the quartet's former cellist David Finckel to mentor and coach student string quartets.

In August 2021, the quartet announced its plan to disband at the end of the 2022–2023 season in order to focus on teaching and solo work. In the final season of concerts in 2022-23, the quartet gave farewell performances throughout North America and Europe. The final performance of the quartet took place on Sunday, October 22, 2023, in New York City, featuring a program of Beethoven's Op. 130 string quartet (with its original ending, the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133) and Schubert's String Quintet D. 956. The performance was filmed by Tristan Cook for a documentary, Four Rational People, released in 2026.

History

In the early 1980s, Deutsche Grammophon chose the Emerson Quartet to begin a series of recordings of the string quartet literature to be released on the new CD digital format. Cellist David Finckel called this a "huge break" for the ensemble, allowing it to develop a worldwide audience for its performances.

Instruments

In addition to using their Stradivarius instruments, the Emerson quartet own instruments by Samuel Zygmuntowicz which they often favour in larger halls as they believe they have better projection. Violinist Eugene Drucker even says of his modern violin "In a large space like Carnegie Hall, the Zygmuntowicz is superior to my Strad. It has more power and punch."

Awards and recognition

1993 Ives: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2; Barber: String Quartet Op.11 (American Originals)

In 2002 the Quartet were the Music Directors of the Ojai Music Festival. They also played for the Oscar nominated short film, The Little Matchgirl. They have also won the Avery Fisher Prize, and in 2010, were inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame, with a ceremony held in 2011. In January 2015, the Quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the highest award in the classical chamber music world.

Recordings

Volume I - Dvorák: Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 "American;" Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E "From My Life." (1990) Book of the Month Records

Volume II - Brahms: Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 51; Schumann: Quartet in A, Op. 41, No. 3 (1990) Book of the Month Records

Volume III - Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D; Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D, Op.11 (1990) Book of the Month Records

Volume IV - Debussy: Quartet in g, Op. 10; Ravel: Quartet in F Major. (1990) Book of the Month Records

Piston: Concerto for String Quartet, Winds and Percussion (1990) Composers Recording Inc

Cowell: Quartet Euphometric; Harris: Three Variations on a Theme (Quartet No. 2) (1990) New World

Beethoven: Quartet in F, Op. 135; Schubert: Quartet in G, D. 887 (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Dvorák: Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 "American"; Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E, "From My Life." (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11; Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Mozart: Quartet in B-flat, K. 458 "Hunt"; Quartet in C, K. 465 "Dissonance"; Haydn: Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3 "Emperor (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Brahms: Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 51; Schumann: Quartet in A, Op. 41, No. 3 (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Beethoven: Quartet in f, Op. 95; Schubert: Quartet No. 14 in d, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden" (1990) Deutsche Grammophon

Prokofiev: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2/Sonata for 2 Violins (1992) Deutsche Grammophon

Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956 with Mstislav Rostropovich (1992) Deutsche Grammophon

American Originals: String Quartets of Ives and Barber (1993) Deutsche Grammophon

American Contemporaries: Harbison, Wernick, and Schuller (1994) Deutsche Grammophon

Dvorák: Quartet in E-flat, Op. 87; Quintet in A, Op. 81 with Menahem Pressler (1994) Deutsche Grammophon

Mozart: String Quartet in G, K. 387; String Quartet in d, K. 421 (1995) Deutsche Grammophon

Schumann Piano Quintet Op. 44/ Piano Quartet Op. 47 with Menahem Pressler (1996) Deutsche Grammophon

Meyer: String Quintet/Rorem: String Quartet No. 4 with Edgar Meyer (1998) Deutsche Grammophon

Haydn: The Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross, Op. 51 (2004) Deutsche Grammophon

Emerson String Quartet: The Complete DG Recordings (2016) Deutsche Grammophon (52 CDs)