Juilliard String Quartet Today, with (L to R) Smirnoff, Krosnick, Rhodes and Copes
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Opposite page: The Juilliard String Quartet today, with (l to r) Smirnoff, Krosnick, Rhodes and Copes. Inset: In the late 1950s with Hillyer, Mann, Isidore Cohen and Claus Adam. he Juilliard String Quartet is arguably America’s best-known chamber music ensemble—and certainly one of the most admired. And although its current members are only in middle age, the quartet itself cannot escape the adjective “venerable.” Violinist Robert Mann founded the T group in 1946 with violist Raphael Hillyer, cellist Arthur Winograd and the late violinist Robert Koff. With Mann in the first violinist’s chair for an amazing fifty of the ensemble’s sixty-one years— and with remarkably few other personnel changes—the quartet has performed and recorded, taught aspiring chamber musicians, championed American com- posers, and introduced at least two generations of concertgoers to the European masterworks. In 1962—with Isidore Cohen as second violinist and Claus Adam as cellist—the Juilliard succeeded the legendary Budapest String Quartet as ensemble-in-residence at the Library of Congress and went on to perform there often broadcasting live concerts nationwide for 40 years. In recognition of its extraordinary contribution to the nation’s cultural #life, the Juilliard String Quartet has been named the 2008 recipient of Chamber Music America’s Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the organization’s highest honor. On January 6, 2008, founding members Mann, Winograd, and Hillyer will #join Earl Carlyss (violin II from 1966 to 1986) and the current quartet— violinists Joel Smirnoff and Ronald Copes, violist Samuel Rhodes, and cellist Joel Krosnick—to receive the award at CMA’s Thirtieth Anniversary National Conference in New York City. In honor of the occasion, Chamber Music magazine invited some of the #ensemble’s colleagues, collaborators and former students to offer some views and some memories. Their contributions follow on these pages. AMERICA’S QUARTET AMERICA’S JUILLIARD 30 february 2008 31 With Elliott Carter in 1991: Mann, Smirnoff, Krosnick and Rhodes he Juilliard String Quartet was formed the Juilliard: even if they are preparing their very young Juilliard right after World War II, at a time when umpteenth Beethoven cycle and getting together String Quartet first Tall the established, important quartets to go through, say, Op. 130 once again, they A appeared here at here were European in origin. Young men require themselves to take a new look. They the Library of Congress on (including violinist Robert Mann) had just don’t accept that what they did before is the December 10, 1948, per- come back from the armed services; many way it should be now. Consequently, rehearsals forming Mozart, Beethoven, were going back to school. America was a can be provocative, because you’re dealing and—what would be a spe- power, and America had a profile of not being with real issues. round 1960 I was commissioned by a cialty—Bartók. (Bartók’s hidebound by European traditions, of having a For them, every rehearsal and every concert string quartet in Ann Arbor, Michigan. fifth string quartet, a 1934 fresh way of looking at things. Those are is approached as though one’s life depends on AThe piece turned out to be my second commission from the clichés, I suppose; but the Juilliard did play in it. Not such a bad idea, but one that’s pretty String Quartet. I was rather slow in completing Library’s Coolidge Founda- a different style from everybody else. They difficult to maintain. Yet in various ways they the piece, and by the time I finished it and sent tion, was on that first pro- were the Young Turks, known as “these brash have maintained that that kind of intensity—in them the score, they determined that it would gram.) For Robert Mann, LEAN Americans,” as much for their style as for their their life, their teaching, in their own work. not fit into their pattern. In the meantime, they the performance was the nationality. They don’t take for granted the responsibility had engaged a student at Ann Arbor to copy realization of a dream. As It’s not easy to characterize their way of and challenge of, for instance, maintaining a the individual parts. I then showed the score a teenager in Portland, C playing, but if I had to describe it, I’d certainly say high standard in every lesson they teach and to the Juilliard Quartet, and they said they Oregon, he had listened to they were bold, direct, incisive—less “civilized,” with every group they coach. The Juilliards are very much wanted to perform the piece. So we the Budapest String Quartet’s the Europeans might term it. Of course, you concerned that every aspect of their musical got the parts from Ann Arbor and then dis- Library of Congress radio can’t really make any single statement about life be of high quality; I know how much they covered that these parts were not very easy to broadcasts and had imag- their playing: over the decades their approach practice, separately and together. read, so we had to recopy a new set of parts. ined playing, as the older evolved; the personnel changed, and of course They don’t know what it means to be routine, The piece was finally presented by the quartet had done, on our individual people develop and mature. or to take a concert for granted—or, for that Juilliard Quartet many times on tour, and it Stradivari instruments. “THESE BRASH AMERICANS” “THESE BRASH You’d think that for any group of musicians matter, to take their standard for granted. I won quite a few awards. It all turned out quite Already in those early days who play a lot of concerts, at least some concerts think that makes them kind of special, and it successfully due to their remarkable efforts. It the Juilliard was known for would have to be routine. But the Juilliard String defines the Juilliard String Quartet. was also the first time they had played a quartet uncompromising musical Quartet doesn’t know how to do that. Some of mine. They then decided to learn and per- standards and a passion- musicians that you work with, when they’ve Pianist Gilbert Kalish is Distinguished Professor of Music ate engagement with new form my first quartet. Then the Juilliard School LIBRARY THE NATION’S AT done the piece before, might say, “How did we at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. commissioned my third quartet, and it was also music. The group shared with do this? Didn’t we make a crescendo there? He chaired the faculty at Tanglewood (1985–1997), the Library’s producers— co-founded the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, performed by the Juilliard Quartet. This quartet Wasn’t this faster?” Well, that’s a normal, natural and received the Richard J. Bogomolny Award from had been previously played by another American and its visionary benefactor, human thing to do. But that’s the thing about CMA in 2002. string quartet who had felt it necessary to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge— devise a click track to enable them to stay a firm commitment to GILBERT KALISH together as an ensemble, since this piece was American composers. From rather complicated rhythmically and extremely the beginning, the quartet ANNE M difficult, I think. But the Juilliard Quartet decided presented important Amer- that they would not use a click track, and I think ican works: by Babbitt, they were right in their decision, since using Barber, Cowell, Diamond, this device often produced a rather dreary continued on next page performance. This decision did require them THE SECOND STRING QUARTET STRING THE SECOND to rehearse an unbelievable number of hours to learn how to fit all the parts together. These quartets received the Pulitzer Prize on two occasions, all due to the efforts of the Juilliard Quartet and their beautiful perform- ances of my music. Founders Mann, Renowned American composer Elliott Carter turned 99 in December 2007. Hillyer, Winograd CARTER ELLIOTT and Koff, circa 1948 Mann, Carlyss, Krosnick, Rhodes, circa 1976 32 february 2008 33 he Juilliard String Quartet has been in and inviting us to share his enlightened point my life since I was a kid. They first entered of view, in a spirit of excitement and compan- Tmy consciousness through a series of ionship. I first played for Sam Rhodes around LPs that became iconic for me. I first came to the same time, and was later to become his understand and be inspired by the Ravel and graduate student at Juilliard. Sam’s gift to me Debussy String Quartets; the Dvorˇák Piano was the example of his artistic commitment, of Quintet with Rudolf Firkusny; the Schumann an eminent performer whose love of the music quartets; and later, the Bartók quartets. As I he plays is as fresh as a fifteen-year-old’s. got to be an older teenager, I evolved (with my In 1989 my student quartet had the oppor- quartet-head buddies) to the point of comparing tunity to coach with Robert Mann on Bartók’s recordings, often of the same works, by earlier Sixth Quartet, a session that we anticipated with and later Juilliard Quartets, and marveling at some trepidation, as Mann’s fierce reputation the differences in the group’s style and character, preceded him—after all, this was THE Robert the extent to which each personnel change Mann, who had been the Juilliard Quartet’s A STUDENT’S VIEW A STUDENT’S affected the quartet and caused it to grow, leader since our parents were small children. It adapt and unfold.