Müller Quartets.

Müller Quartets. Two famous German string quartets, the first to undertake regular concert tours, their members being:

(1) The brothers Karl (1797–1873), Gustav (1799–1855), Theodor (1802–75), and Georg (1808–55). They were all born in Braunschweig and belonged to the orch. there, Karl as concertmaster, Theodor as cellist, Gustav as violinist, and Georg as conductor. Their artistic tours included not only all the large German cities, but also Vienna and Paris (1833), Copenhagen (1838), St. Petersburg (1845), and the Netherlands (1852).

Bibliography

I L. Köhler, Die Gebrüder M. und das Streichquartett (Leipzig, 1858).

(2) The four sons of Karl, all born in Braunschweig (this quartet was organized in 1855, after the death of 2 members of the first one); Karl, first violin (b. April 14, 1829; d. Stuttgart, Nov. 11, 1907); Hugo, second violin (b. Sept. 21, 1832; d. Braunschweig, June 26, 1886); Bern-hard, viola (b. Feb. 24, 1825; d. Rostock, Sept. 4, 1895); and Wilhelm, cello (b. June 1, 1834; d. N.Y., Sept. 1897). For 10 years they constituted the court quartet at Meiningen, then, after extended and successful travels, they settled in Rostock as members of the city orch., Karl being appointed music director. The quartet was broken up by the appointment of Wilhelm (1873) to succeed Sweerts as first cello in the Royal Orch. at Berlin, and prof, in the Hochschule für Musik. Karl lived from then on in Stuttgart and Hamburg and was also a composer.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire