External links
- Portrait of the Griller Quartet. By Henry Carr, oil on canvas, 1941. Royal Academy of Music
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The Griller String Quartet was a British musical ensemble particularly active from 1931 to c.1961 or 1963, when it was disbanded. [1] The quartet was in residence at the University of California at Berkeley from 1949 to 1961. [2] It performed a wide repertory, including works written for it by Ernest Bloch, Darius Milhaud, and Arnold Bax.
The personnel included:
1st violin: Sidney Griller
2nd violin:Jack O'Brien
viola: Philip Burton
violoncello: Colin Hampton
Among the Quartet's first recordings was that of the oboe quintet written by Elizabeth Maconchy (a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams), a work which was a prize winner in the London Daily Telegraph Chamber Music Competition of 1933. They performed at Gloucester Cathedral in the Three Choirs Festival in September 1934. [3] The Quartet gave the premiere of the Arnold Cooke first string quartet in 1935. In 1944 they performed the Arnold Bax quartet no 1 in G major at the Duke's Hall in a special concert with Clifford Curzon, on behalf of Sir Henry J. Wood. [4] In performance they were sometimes joined by William Primrose, Max Gilbert or Denis Matthews.
The Griller Quartet recorded extensively for Decca Records in the later 78rpm and early LP era. Some examples of their recorded art are as follows:
For a virtually complete list, see DECCA CLASSICAL, 1929-2009.
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