The Lindsay String Quartet (or The Lindsays) was a British string quartet from 1965 to 2005.

History

The quartet first performed at the Royal Academy of Music in 1965 to compete for a prize and set out to make the string quartets of Bartók and Beethoven the centre of their repertoire. In 1967, the quartet was appointed to be Leverhulme Scholars at Keele University, and in 1970, it changed its name from the Cropper to the Lindsay String Quartet, naming itself after Lord Lindsay, the founder of Keele University. 1971 brought a change in second violin to Ronald Birks. The quartet gained a Gramophone Award for the Late Beethoven Quartets in 1984. Roger Bigley left the quartet in 1985 to be replaced by Robin Ireland. Bigley then became assistant principal viola of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra before becoming assistant head of strings at the RNCM. In 1974, they became Quartet-in-Residence at Sheffield University and five years later held a similar position at Manchester University, where they performed a regular concert season, directed seminars, and coached chamber ensembles. The quartet presented festivals each year at the Studio Theatre in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, which featured many famous local and international musicians, and travelled widely throughout the world. In 2005, after 39 years, the quartet announced their intended retirement the following year. They then performed a successful series of farewell concerts throughout the world, culminating in four final concerts in their home town of Sheffield in July 2005. Individual members afterwards pursued separate musical ideas. The quartet produced an extensive list of recordings, including an acclaimed Beethoven cycle, and substantial parts of the Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Dvořák repertoires. In 2019, a book titled A Quintessential Quartet: The Story of the Lindsay String Quartet was written by Bernard Gregor-Smith, one of the founding members. Leader Peter Cropper (19 November 1945 – 29 May 2015) was the founding artistic director of Music in the Round, a charitable organisation he founded in the 1980s, that promotes chamber music concerts in Sheffield and nationally. The Lindsays formed the core of Music in the Round's activity for over twenty years, until their retirement. Cropper died suddenly in 2015 aged 69.

Members

Awards

Gramophone Award – 1984 Honorary doctorate – Keele University, 1986 Honorary doctorate – Sheffield Hallam University, 1990 Honorary doctorate – University of Leicester, 1998 Honorary doctorate – University of Sheffield, 2001 Honorary doctorate – University of Manchester, 2005

Books

A Quintessential Quartet: The Story of the Lindsay String Quartet written by Bernard Gregor-Smith

Art

The Lindsay String Quartet (Peter Cropper; Ronald Birks; Robin Ireland; Bernard Gregor-Smith) Hanging in The National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom | by György Gordon | oil on canvas, 2003 | Primary Collection | NPG 6649

ASV Lindsay String Quartet discography

BEETHOVEN: String Quartets "Rasumovsky" No. 7, Nos. 8 & 9 CD DCA 553, 554 BEETHOVEN: String Quartets Nos. 12–16 & Grosse Fuge CD DCA 601, 602, 603 & 604 BEETHOVEN: String Quartets (The New Cycle): BARTOK: String Quartets BORODIN: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2, String Sextet (with L. Williams, R. Wallfisch) CD DCA 1143 BRAHMS / SCHUMANN: Piano Quintets (with P. Frankl) CD DCA 728 MENDELSSOHN : String Quartet No. 6 & BRAHMS : String Quartet No. 2 CD QS 6173 HAYDN: The Seven Last Words CD DCA 853 HAYDN: String Quartets "Sun" Op. 20 – Nos. 1, 3 & 4 CD DCA 1027 HAYDN: String Quartets "Sun" Op. 20 – Nos. 2, 5 & 6 CD DCA 1057 HAYDN: String Quartets Op. 33 – Nos. 1, 2 "The Joke" & 4 CD DCA 937 HAYDN: String Quartets Op. 33 – Nos. 3 "The Bird", 5 & 6 CD DCA 938 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 54 "Tost I" CD DCA 582 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 55 CD DCA 906 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 64 (part 1) CD DCA 1083 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 64 (part 2) CD DCA 1084 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 76 (part 1) CD DCA 1076 HAYDN: The 3 String Quartets Op. 76 (part 2) CD DCA 1077 Haydn: String Quartets Op. 50 Nos. 1–3 CD GLD 4007 Haydn: String Quartets Op. 50 Nos. 4–6 CD GLD 4008 Haydn: String Quartets Op. 74 Nos. 1–3 CD GLD 40132 Hadyn: String Quartets Op. 77 Nos. 1–2, Op. 42, Op. 103 CD GLD 40102 MOZART: Quartet K387 / String Quintet K516 CD DCA 923 MOZART: Quartet K458 "The Hunt" / Horn Quintet / Oboe Quartet CD DCA 968 MOZART: Quartet K428 / String Quintet K515 CD DCA 992 MOZART: Quartet K421 / String Quintet K593 CD DCA 1018 MOZART: Clarinet Quintet/String Quintet K464 CDDCA 1042 MOZART: Quartet K465 / String Quintet K614 CD DCA 1069 RAVEL & DEBUSSY: String Quartets / STRAVINSKY: 3 Pieces CD DCA 930 SCHUBERT:String Quintet (with Douglas Cummings - cello) CD DCA 537 SCHUBERT:String Quartets Nos. 8 & 13 "Rosamunde" CD DCA 593 SCHUBERT:String Quartets Nos. 12 & 14 "Death and the Maiden" CD DCA 560 SCHUBERT:String Quartet No. 15 CD DCA 661 TIPPETT: String Quartet No. 4 / BRITTEN: String Quartet No. 3 CD DCA 608 "THE BOHEMIANS" JANACEK: The 2 String Quartets "Kreutzer Sonata" & "Intimate Letters" / DVORAK: Cypresses CD DCA 749 SMETANA: The 2 String Quartets / DVORAK: Romance & 2 Waltzes CD DCA 777 DVORAK: String Quartets Nos. 10 & 14 CD DCA 788 DVORAK: String Quartets Nos. 12 "The American" & 13 CD DCA 797 DVORAK: Bagatelles / String Quintet "The American" CD DCA 806 DVORAK & MARTINU: Piano Quintets (with Peter Frankl – piano) CD DCA 889

Member links

Tributes

Music and videos