New Hungarian Quartet

The New Hungarian Quartet was founded in 1972. It is separate and distinct from the well-known string quartet, the Hungarian Quartet, though the violist in both groups was the same.

Personnel

Violinist Andor Toth founded the New Hungarian Quartet in 1972. It was based at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, where they were faculty members. The other members of the Quartet were Richard Young, second violin; Denes Koromzay (1913-2001), viola, formerly violist in the Hungarian Quartet; and Andor Toth Jr., cello, formerly principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony under conductor Josef Krips.

Summer residency

From 1975-79 the Quartet was the first faculty quartet-in-residence at the Taos School of Music in Taos, New Mexico. [1].

Touring

The New Hungarian Quartet toured internationally giving many concerts during its career. The Quartet performed a concert in New York City in Alice Tully Hall in February, 1976. Music critic Raymond Ericson made this comment in the New York Times published on February 19, 1976.

"The Brahms was greeted enthusiastically, however, by a near-capacity audience, as were the works offered by the New Hungarian Quartet alone. These included Mozart's "Hunt" Quartet and Bartok's Fourth Quartet. The playing here was classic in its restraint and sweetness. The soft playing in the trio of the Mozart Adagio was ravishing. The stylishness held good throughout the Bartok, even when the players did justice to the wild dance rhythms of the last movement. This was top-level playing."

Recordings

The Quartet made several recordings for VOX in their VOXBOX series (see discography below). The most notable recording was the CD album of the Six String Quartets by Bela Bartok, recorded in 1976 for VOX (Vox SVBX 593).

References

New York Times Review

• "Oberlin Head, Pianist, Plays with Hungarians"

External links

• CD Database
• The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet By Robin Stowell - an example of the confusion existing regarding this quartet
• allmusic
• PC-InfoPratique
• Appearances on the Morrison Artists Series, 1975-78
• Schubert Quartets at Amazon
• Classical Voice of North Carolina article about the quartet's residency at the Taos School of Music
• New Hungarian Quartet music downloads
• Appearances on the Rhode Island Chamber Music Concerts in 1975 and 1978
• Appearance on the Music at Amherst Series 1978-79
• Cited in the obituary of the cellist, Andor Toth Jr.
• Citation in the Wichita Public Library, Wichita, Kansas
• Appearance at Oklahoma State University in 1976-77 season
• Richard Young, second violin, bio from Northern Illinois University
• Denes Koromzay, viola, Obituary

Selected discography

Arkiv Music VoxBox CDX 5022: Schubert, String Quartets / New Hungarian Quartet [2] Andor Toth (Violin), Richard Young (Violin), Denes Koromzay (Viola), Andor Toth Jr. (Cello)

1. String Quartet No. 13 (Schubert) in A minor, D 804/Op. 29 no 1 "Rosamunde"
2. String Quartet No. 14 (Schubert) in D minor, D 810 "Death and the Maiden"
3. String Quartet No. 15 (Schubert) in G major, D 887/Op. 161
4. Quartettsatz (Schubert) in C minor, D 703/Op. posthumous

VoxBox (Classical) CD3X 3012: Beethoven, The Middle Quartets / New Hungarian Quartet [3] Andor Toth (Violin), Richard Young (Violin), Denes Koromzay (Viola), Andor Toth Jr. (Cello)

1. String Quartet No. 7 (Beethoven) in F major ("Rasumovsky 1"), Op. 59/1
2. String Quartet No. 8 (Beethoven) in E minor ("Rasumovsky 2"), Op. 59/2
3. String Quartet No. 9 (Beethoven) in C major ("Rasumovsky 3"), Op. 59/3
4. String Quartet No. 10 (Beethoven) in E flat major ("Harp"), Op. 74
5. String Quartet No. 11 (Beethoven) in F minor ("Serioso"), Op. 95

VoxBox (Classical) CDX 3031: Debussy and Ravel Quartets / New Hungarian Quartet [4] Second CD of 3 CD Set. Andor Toth (Violin), Richard Young (Violin), Denes Koromzay (Viola), Andor Toth Jr. (Cello)

1. String Quartet (Debussy) in G Minor, Op. 10
2. String Quartet (Ravel)

Vox SVBX 593 Béla Bartók, 1881-1945: The 6 string quartets. New Hungarian Quartet: Andor Toth (Violin), Richard Young (Violin), Denes Koromzay (Viola), Andor Toth Jr. (Cello). Cataloged in the Library of Congress, Library of Congress Control No. 77760307.