The Composers Quartet Explained

The Composers String Quartet was a string quartet best known for performances of new works by contemporary composers,^[1] including quartets by Elliott Carter^[2] and Ruth Crawford Seeger.^[3] Carter's Fourth Quartet was dedicated to the Composers Quartet, who premiered the work in 1986.^[4] The group has performed quartets by more than 60 American composers, and has toured abroad extensively.^[5]

The quartet was founded in 1965,^[6] and remained active until the late 1990s. During the early 1970s it was the quartet-in-residence at New England Conservatory, where it sponsored a biennial composition prize.^[7] In 1975, the group became the quartet-in-residence at Columbia University, remaining at Columbia for at least two decades.^[8]

Members

• • Matthew Raimondi, violin Anahid Ajemian, violin
• Bernard Zaslav, viola (succeeded by Jean Dupouy, Jean Dane, and Ron Carbone; the quartet also recorded with violist Maureen Gallagher)
• Seymour Barab, cello (succeeded by Michael Rudiakov, Michael Haber and Mark Shuman)

Notes and References

1. News: CHAMBER: COMPOSERS QUARTET . 1982-11-27 . The New York Times.
2. "The Carter Vogue", TIME Magazine, Feb. 10, 1975
3. Web site: Ruth Crawford Seeger's Different Tunes . Tick . Judith.
4. "Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 4", Notes, 48:2 (Dec. 1991), p. 689.
5. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
6. Web site: About the Mt. Desert Festival of Chamber Music.
7. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
8. http://columbiauniversity.net/cu/record/archives/vol20/vol20_iss8/record2008.31.html Composers String Quartet to Perform at Miller