The Guarneri Quartet Exits After 45 Years
A Four and a Half Decade Long Career Gracefully Takes a Bow
May 23, 2009
What started out as a fun diversion in music school turned into a 45 year long career. After four and a half decades of practicing, performing and just enjoying each other's company together, the Guarneri Quartet will soon wrap up its final season. Their final performance will take place in Ocb
Chamber Music and String Quartets in the 1960s
Arnold Steinhardt, John Dalley, Daniel Tree and David Soyer were all aspiring classical musicians in the 1960s, starting to accumulate awards and recognition for individual performances. They could have chosen to follow the normal path offered to most musicians at the time: shine as a soloist star or disappear into the vast orchestra pit. A third option, the idea of getting together with a few friends and performing as chamber musicians, hadn't really taken off yet. The Guarneri Quartet , however, helped to change that mindset.
Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley played the violins, Daniel Tree took up the viola and David Soyer played the cello. After playing together for several years at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, the quartet figured they might as well stick around.
The Beatles, Ed Sullivan and Guarneri in 1964
The group got their official start in 1964, a year when most of the nation was glued to the TV screens watching another foursome electrify the Ed Sullivan show. Certainly America's youthful infatuation with the Beatles pervades the Guarneri Quartet's early photo shoots: the musicians mimic Fab Four poses, reminding us that the two worlds were not really that far distant. Perhaps they dreamed of performing an "Eleanor Rigby" of their own?
Their touring schedule was as intense as any rock star's: at one hundred dates a year, the group was either on the road or performing as often as not. A year after their official formation, the group also established their annual Metropolitan Museum of Art concert series in 1965.
Not an avant garde Kronos Quartet, the group specializes in Romantic and Classical staples, with some dabbling in Bartok and the works of fellow Curtis Institute of Music alumnus Lukas Foss.
From David Soyer to Peter Wiley and Beyond: Changes in Line-Up, Plans for Retirement
In 2001, the cello bow was passed off to David Soyer's student Peter Wiley, who has remained with the group till its retirement. Significantly younger than the rest of the retirees, Wiley still plans to make music wherever he ends up.
Audience members might ask why the group is retiring while they are still have so much good music left in them. Steinhardt explains that he wants to leave while people still love them. What's the point of hanging around till the music gets stale? And the Guarneri's music will linger freshly in the memory as the world bids them farewell.
Sources
"After 45 Years, a Guarneri Farewell." May 17, 2009. NPR Music.
Guarneri String Quartet: Harbert Barrett Management.
Waleson, Heidi. "Guarneri String Quartet Membes Reflect on Decades of Learning, Teaching and Performing".
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