The Paganini Quartet was an American string quartet founded by cellist Robert Maas and violinist Henri Temianka in 1946. The quartet drew its name from the fact that all four of its instruments, made by Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), had once been owned by the great Italian violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini (1782–1840).

Origins

In 1945, Maas, who had been with the Pro Arte Quartet until early in World War II and was interested in forming a new string quartet, secured a sponsorship from Anna Clark, the widow of copper millionaire William A. Clark. Maas happened upon four Paganini Strads at the shop of Emil Herrmann in New York, and mentioned them to Mrs. Clark, who promptly purchased the instruments for the quartet's use. Meanwhile, another patron of chamber music, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, had sponsored violinist Henri Temianka's performance of the Beethoven violin sonata cycle at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., with pianist Leonard Shure, and she also expressed interest in the project. Gustave Rosseels, violin, and Robert Courte, viola, immediately accepted invitations to complete the ensemble. As detailed by authors Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. in Empty Mansions, the story of the Clark family, the quartet often performed and practiced at the Clark home in Santa Barbara, Bellosguardo. In 1946–47, the four played all the Beethoven string quartets at the Library of Congress; people began lining up at 5:00 a.m. to purchase tickets for the series, which was sold out in an hour. A recording contract with RCA Victor followed, and their rendition of the three Beethoven Opus 59 "Rasumovsky" quartets won the industry award for best recording in 1947. The Quartet made its home in Los Angeles, California. During rehearsals, they usually spoke French. The story of how the Paganini Quartet came into being is told in Henri Temianka's book Facing the Music.

Career

During its 20-year international career, the Paganini Quartet concertized continuously in large cities and small towns throughout the United States, as well as in famous concert halls around the world. They made joint appearances with Arthur Rubinstein, Andrés Segovia, Claudio Arrau, and Gary Graffman. Their recordings included most of the Beethoven Quartets as well as those of Fauré, Verdi, Debussy, Ravel, and others (see Discography, below). They also played the world premieres of works by Darius Milhaud, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Alberto Ginastera, and Benjamin Lees.

Members

Instruments

The four Strads were among the most cherished possessions of the famed musician Niccolo Paganini. After their purchase by Mrs. Clark, further adjustments were made to the instruments by the craftsman Simone Fernando Sacconi. The provenance of the instruments is as follows: When the Paganini Quartet disbanded in 1966, the four Strads reverted to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In accordance with Mrs. Clark's will, they were never to be separated. Beginning in 1992, they were loaned to the Cleveland String Quartet. Since 1994, they have been owned by the Nippon Music Foundation, and were played by the Tokyo String Quartet until the quartet disbanded in 2013. The four instruments were then played by the Hagen Quartet, and then by the Quartetto di Cremona. In 2019, they were loaned to the Kuss Quartet to record the entire cycle of Beethoven Quartets live at Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

Repertoire

As per the brochure published by F.C Schang 3rd c. 1948, the Quartet’s repertoire included the following pieces at that time:

Reviews

Discography

The Paganini Quartet recorded copiously on 33, 45 and 78 rpm format records, as well as a few reel-to-reel tape releases. A summary of these in-studio recordings includes, by label: RCA Victor: For a list of the Paganini Quartet's 78rpm Victor Musical Masterpiece sets see - http://www.78rpmcommunity.com/indexsearch/blog/paganini-quartet-and-the.html Concert-Disc: Decca: KAPP: Liberty: Western Recorders (unreleased):

Other resources