United Archives: UAR023

Schoenberg - Complete String Quartets

Recorded 1950-1952

Founded by the composer Robert Mann following the inspiration of William Schuman, the Juilliard Quartet, made up entirely of professors from the renowned New York school, was to take centre stage in the history of 20th century musical creativity.The first concert was given on 10th December 1946 before an audience that included Yehudi Menuhin and Zoltán Kodály.The level of excellence and insatiable curiosity of the group soon became something of a legend.The first American versions of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15 and Ainsi la Nuit by Henri Dutilleux are also owed to the Juilliard Quartet, as well as world premičres of over 60 other American composers including Elliott Carter. In 1950, the Juilliard Quartet performed Schoenberg's String Quartets in the presence of the composer himself. "Our interpretation was wilder than Schoenberg had expected", explained Mann "and when we played the first quartet for him he declared that it was a way of interpreting it that he had not imagined.We were stunned. Schoenberg burst out laughing and added: 'But play it that way, it's good!'".