The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet,Church, Michael. "Emerson String Quartet, St John’s, Smith Square, London, review: Thrilling performance of ineffable Beethoven fugue", The Independent (November 6, 2017). was an American string quartet initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touring professionally in 1976. The ensemble taught in residence at The Hartt School in the 1980s and is currently the quartet in residence at Stony Brook University. Both of the founding violinists studied with Oscar Shumsky at Juilliard, and the two alternated as first and second violinists for the group. The Emerson Quartet was one of the first such ensembles with the two violinists alternating chairs.

The Emerson Quartet was inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2010. , they had released more than thirty albums and won nine Grammy Awards, as well as the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in 2004. In 2017, the Emerson String Quartet Institute became part of the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University. The institute enables members of the current quartet and the quartet's former cellist David Finckel to mentor and coach student string quartets.

In August 2021, the quartet announced its plan to disband at the end of the 2022–2023 season in order to focus on teaching and solo work. In the final season of concerts in 2022-23, the quartet gave farewell performances throughout North America and Europe. The final performance of the quartet took place on Sunday, October 22, 2023, in New York City, featuring a program of Beethoven's Op. 130 string quartet (with its original ending, the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133) and Schubert's String Quintet D. 956. The performance was filmed by Tristan Cook for a documentary, Four Rational People, released in 2026.

Members The members of the group at the time of its retirement were: Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violin; Lawrence Dutton, viola (since 1977); and Paul Watkins, cello (since 2013).

Previous members were: Guillermo Figueroa, Jr., viola (1976–1977); Eric Wilson, cello (1976–1979); and David Finckel, cello (1979–2013).

History In the early 1980s, Deutsche Grammophon chose the Emerson Quartet to begin a series of recordings of the string quartet literature to be released on the new CD digital format. Cellist David Finckel called this a "huge break" for the ensemble, allowing it to develop a worldwide audience for its performances.

Instruments In addition to using their Stradivarius instruments, the Emerson quartet own instruments by Samuel Zygmuntowicz which they often favour in larger halls as they believe they have better projection. Violinist Eugene Drucker even says of his modern violin "In a large space like Carnegie Hall, the Zygmuntowicz is superior to my Strad. It has more power and punch."

Awards and recognition Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

1989 Bartók: 6 String Quartets 1993 Ives: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2; Barber: String Quartet Op.11 (American Originals) 1997 Beethoven: The String Quartets 2000 Shostakovich: The String Quartets 2005 Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets 2006 Intimate Voices 2009 Intimate Letters

Grammy Award for Best Classical Album: 1989 Bartók: 6 String Quartets 2001 Shostakovich: The String Quartets

Gramophone Classical Music Awards: Chamber (Record of the Year) 1989 - Bartók: String Quartets Nos. 1–6 Chamber 2000 – Shostakovich, Complete String Quartets Nos. 1–15

In 2002 the Quartet were the Music Directors of the Ojai Music Festival. They also played for the Oscar nominated short film, The Little Matchgirl. They have also won the Avery Fisher Prize, and in 2010, were inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame, with a ceremony held in 2011. In January 2015, the Quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the highest award in the classical chamber music world.

Recordings Volume I - Dvorák: Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 "American;" Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E "From My Life." (1990) Book of the Month Records Volume II - Brahms: Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 51; Schumann: Quartet in A, Op. 41, No. 3 (1990) Book of the Month Records Volume III - Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D; Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D, Op.11 (1990) Book of the Month Records Volume IV - Debussy: Quartet in g, Op. 10; Ravel: Quartet in F Major. (1990) Book of the Month Records Piston: Concerto for String Quartet, Winds and Percussion (1990) Composers Recording Inc Cowell: Quartet Euphometric; Harris: Three Variations on a Theme (Quartet No. 2) (1990) New World Imbrie: Quartet No. 4; Schuller: Quartet No. 2 (1990) New World Beethoven: Quartet in F, Op. 135; Schubert: Quartet in G, D. 887 (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Dvorák: Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 "American"; Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E, "From My Life." (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Debussy: Quartet in g, Op. 10; Ravel: Quartet in F (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11; Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart: Quartet in B-flat, K. 458 "Hunt"; Quartet in C, K. 465 "Dissonance"; Haydn: Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3 "Emperor (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Brahms: Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 51; Schumann: Quartet in A, Op. 41, No. 3 (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven: Quartet in f, Op. 95; Schubert: Quartet No. 14 in d, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden" (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Bartók: Complete String Quartets (1990) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart: The "Haydn" Quartets (complete) (1992) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart: The Flute Quartets with Carol Wincenc (1992) Deutsche Grammophon Prokofiev: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2/Sonata for 2 Violins (1992) Deutsche Grammophon Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956 with Mstislav Rostropovich (1992) Deutsche Grammophon American Originals: String Quartets of Ives and Barber (1993) Deutsche Grammophon American Contemporaries: Harbison, Wernick, and Schuller (1994) Deutsche Grammophon Dvorák: Quartet in E-flat, Op. 87; Quintet in A, Op. 81 with Menahem Pressler (1994) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart: String Quartet in G, K. 387; String Quartet in d, K. 421 (1995) Deutsche Grammophon Webern: Works for String Quartet/String Trio Op. 20 (1995) Deutsche Grammophon Schumann Piano Quintet Op. 44/ Piano Quartet Op. 47 with Menahem Pressler (1996) Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven: The String Quartets (Complete) (1997) Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven: Key to the Quartets (1997) Deutsche Grammophon Meyer: String Quintet/Rorem: String Quartet No. 4 with Edgar Meyer (1998) Deutsche Grammophon Music of Curt Cacioppo: "Monsterslayer") (1998) Capstone Records Schubert: String Quintet; Late Quartets (1999) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart/Brahms: Clarinet Quintets with David Shifrin (1999) Deutsche Grammophon Shostakovich: The String Quartets (complete) (2000) Deutsche Grammophon The Haydn Project (2001) Deutsche Grammophon The Emerson Encores (2002) Deutsche Grammophon Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (2003) Deutsche Grammophon Haydn: The Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross, Op. 51 (2004) Deutsche Grammophon Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets (2005) Deutsche Grammophon Intimate Voices (2006) Deutsche Grammophon The Little Match Girl (2007) Disney Brahms: String Quartets (2007) Deutsche Grammophon Bach Fugues (2008) Deutsche Grammophon Intimate Letters (2009) Deutsche Grammophon Old World-New World (Dvorak) with Paul Neubauer (2010) Deutsche Grammophon Mozart: The Prussian Quartets (2011) Sony Classical Journeys: Tchaikovsky, Schönberg (2013) Sony Classical Berg: Lyric Suite; Wellesz: Sonnets By Elizabeth Barrett Browning (2015) Decca Emerson String Quartet: The Complete DG Recordings (2016) Deutsche Grammophon (52 CDs) Chaconnes And Fantasias - Music Of Britten And Purcell (2017) Decca Schumann - String Quartets (2020) PENTATONE

See also List of string quartet ensembles

References

External links

Emerson String Quartet official website Artists' page on IMGArtists BACH & friends Documentary