Végh Quartet
The Végh Quartet was a Hungarian string quartet founded in 1940 and dissolved in 1980 . The quartet was initially based in Budapest until it left Hungary in 1946 and settled in Paris . It was directed over the years by the violinist Sándor Végh . The Végh Quartet was one of the most important chamber music ensembles of its time. It became particularly famous for the recordings of its two Beethoven (1952 mono, 1972–1974 stereo) and two Bartók cycles.
history
In 1946 the quartet won 1st prize at the Geneva Competition. In 1972 NASA sent one of the recordings of the Végh Quartet into space .
In addition to the two cycles mentioned in the introduction, the quartet performed or recorded numerous Haydn quartets as well as Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Debussy pieces. The Végh Quartet gave world premieres by Amadeus Hartmann (String Quartet No. 1 1946, No. 2 1949), Sándor Verress (Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra 1962) and Pierre Wissmer (String Quartet No. 2 1949).
The Végh Quartet was one of the best string quartets of the mid-20th century. His style developed naturally and in a very subtle way through the personal constancy over 38 of the 40 years of its existence until 1978. In the 1960s and 1970s the ensemble experienced a veritable artistic heyday, although the director Sándor Végh had a parallel conducting career developed and worked as a music teacher in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. During this time, the ensemble continued touring and successfully made numerous recordings. In 1978 Sándor Zöldy and Georges Janzer left the group and were replaced by the violinist Philipp Naegele and the violist Bruno Giuranna. In the same year Végh took over a position as conductor at the Salzburg Camerata Academica . Two years later the group broke up.
occupation
- 1st violin : Sándor Végh (1940–1980)
- 2nd violin: Sándor Zöldy (1940–1978), Philippe Naegele (1978–1980)
- Viola : Georges Janzer (1940–1978), Bruno Giuranna (1978–1980)
- Violoncello : Paul Szabó (1940–1980)
literature
- Végh Quartet. In: Alain Pâris : Classical music in the 20th century, instrumentalists, singers, conductors, orchestras, choirs . 2nd Edition. dtv, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-423-32501-1 , p. 1058 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Végh Quartet in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Végh Quartet at Discogs (English)
- Végh-Quartett on MusicBrainz (English)
- Robert Cummings: Végh Quartet. In: allmusic.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English).