Urania Quartet
The Urania Quartet (also: Urania Streichquartett ) was an Austrian string quartet in the early 20th century.
Volksbildungshaus Grazer Urania
Since the city of Graz was economically and culturally cut off from the former crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy after the First World War , artists from Vienna visited the state capital at best . The long drive over the Semmering Pass meant considerable travel costs and the "waste" of at least one day for the journey to Graz, so that artists who made themselves available for concerts in Graz demanded relatively high fees. The further consequence was that the tickets became so expensive that even then people spoke of so-called "elite concerts".
The Volksbildungshaus Grazer Urania was founded in February 1919, following the example of the Vienna Urania . The intention of this association was to offer art and culture, in this case chamber music , to a wider public at affordable prices. This pricing was only possible with local artists who were willing to make their artistic skills available for a small fee (or sometimes free of charge).
Otto Hödel wrote: “ If the national education institute known as 'Urania' had not taken on the care of local music in the various cities [...], Austria's musical life would actually have died completely after the war. "
History of the Urania String Quartet
In 1919 "[...] the founding of a Urania Quartet was initiated". This string quartet was founded by Leopold Suchsland , on the one hand to have a permanent ensemble available to mediate popular events , on the other hand it was easier for him to bring his own compositions to the public.
In the first year of work six different programs were studied, each of which was repeated at least once.
The performance year 1920/21
A literal quote from the musicological work of Ms. Kornberger:
“ In this working year a total of seven new programs were rehearsed, the aforementioned Schubert evening was given thirteen times (!), And that in a period of less than 3 months [...] The external chamber music evenings were also extended, this year the Urania played - Quartet in the towns of Gleisdorf twice, Hartberg , twice in Kapfenberg , twice in Fürstenfeld , Deutschlandsberg , Stainz , Fohnsdorf and Mürzzuschlag , so a total of eleven external concerts at which various programs were performed given, d. H. the rehearsed programs were performed by pupils, in this case there were four Mozart , two Haydn and one Schubert evenings. "
On March 19, 1922, the Urania Quartet took part for the first time at a charity event of the Social Readiness , a charity association founded by Mila Radkovic in 1920. Over the years, the Urania Quartet has repeatedly been called upon by this association for various events.
The occupation
- Karl Baltz Baltzberg (1st violin )
- Erwin Hassack (2nd violin)
- Rudolf Glinschek ( viola )
- Hans Kortschak ( violoncello )
A year later the 1st violin was occupied by Rudolf Wagner (musician, 1884) and the 2nd violin by Gerhart Ilming.
literature
- Monika Kornberger: The Urania String Quartet (1919–1938) , Musicology Proseminar III: Research presentations, summer semester 1992. University of Music and Performing Arts .