Emerson String Quartet

views updated

EMERSON STRING QUARTET

Formed: 1976, New York

Members: Eugene Drucker, violin (born Coral Gables, Florida, 17 May 1952); Lawrence Dutton, viola (born New York, New York, 9 May 1954); David Finckel, cello (born Allentown, Pennsylvania, 6 December 1951); Philip Setzer, violin (Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 12 March 1951). Former members: Guillermo Figueroa, viola; Eric Wilson, cello.

Genre: Classical

Known for its penetrating interpretations, technical brilliance, and dynamic sound, the Emerson String Quartet is considered by many to be the world's finest string quartet. Its performances and recordings of the Beethoven, Bartók, and Shostakovich quartet cycles are highly prized, and the quartet has a long history of promoting music of contemporary composers.

Named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, the quartet was founded in 1976 while violinists Eugene Drucker, Philip Setzer, violist Guillermo Figueroa, and cellist Eric Wilson were students at the Juilliard School. Unlike most quartets, the Emerson has no first and second violins; Setzer and Drucker trade off playing first and second parts from work to work. This helps keep the music fresh and encourages the players to listen and adapt to one another.

In 1977 violist Lawrence Dutton joined the quartet, and the next year the group won the prestigious Naumburg Award for Chamber Music, launching its international career. Cellist David Finckel joined the quartet in 1978, and the Emersons's current lineup was set. That year the quartet played the first of its annual season of recitals at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Since then it has worked with some of the world's most prominent musicians, including Menahem Pressler, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Thomas Hampson, Leon Fleisher, Emanuel Ax, Oscar Shumsky, and Misha Dichter. The quartet has commissioned or premiered work by Edgar Meyer, Ned Rorem, John Harbison, Mario Davidovsky, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, among others.

The Emerson Quartet tours relentlessly, giving annual tours at many of the world's most prestigious concert venues and music festivals. The group is also highly committed to teaching and offers master classes in conjunction with its concerts in many of the cities in which it performs. In 1981 it began teaching at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut, and in 2002 it became quartet-in-residence at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. The Emerson Quartet frequently gives concerts to benefit peace, world hunger, children, the fight against AIDS, and other causes.

The Emerson Quartet has won six Grammy Awards, including two for the Bartók String Quartets (1990); one for American Originals (1994), featuring music by John Harbison, Richard Wernick, and Gunther Schuller; another for a set of the complete Beethoven String Quartets (1998); and two more (Best Chamber Music Performance and Best Classical Album) for the complete Shostakovich String Quartets (2000). The Shostakovich set, recorded live over three summers at the Aspen Music Festival, also won Gramophone magazine's Record of the Year honors. In 2000 the Emerson Quartet were chosen as Musical America 's Ensemble of the Year.

Two films have been made about the Emerson Quartet: In Residence at the Renwick (1983), produced for public television, which won an Emmy; and Making Music: The Emerson Quartet, which won first prize at the National Educational Film Festival (1985).

The 1980s saw a boom in chamber music across America, with hundreds of chamber groups and series springing up. In the 1990s the field contracted considerably, but the Emerson Quartet continued to thrive, building on its claim as one of the top chamber ensembles in the world. Its restless exploration of new repertoire and a seemingly natural affinity for the core of the string quartet literature continue to reinvigorate the quartet's performances. The individuality encouraged in each of the members contributes to the freshness of the quartet's interpretations and its ability to produce highly nuanced performances.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Bartók String Quartets (Deutsche Grammophon, 1990); American Originals (Deutsche Grammophon, 1994); Beethoven String Quartets (Deutsche Grammophon, 1998); Shostakovich String Quartets (Deutsche Grammophon, 2000).