Evening star., 1954-10-10

GOfOQeCSky, second Violin,
has ever played with the Bud
apest Quartet in the city OF
its name, although the group
has toured throughout almost
all parts Of the world where
Western music Is appreciated.
Since 1888 the Quartet has
made Washington its home.
and has played an average Of
20 concerts q year at the Li-
brary Of Congress under the
auspices Of the Gertrude Clarke
Whittall Foundation.
It's the Stondard
What else is there in the city
Of Washington that Is accepted
the world over as the stand
ard of excellence In its field
as is the Budapest Quartet?
This is not the start Of a
panegyric, it is rather q ques-
ton to please and startle those
who are particularly sensitive
to the honor Of their town.
We have no Rolls Royce. no
Patek PHILIPPE. no longer a
Walter johnson, no Chez Point
Restaurant, no Steinway, no
Thornton Wilder, no PicaSSo.
We do have the Budapest
Quartet, and while it was not
born here, it may be argued
that there has been something
in the Washington atmosphere
that has given it its lasting
color and authority. That the
Budapest Quartet is the stand
ard of the world it is futile to
deny. There are those who
find fault with it, those who
say it is no longer what it once
was. those who find the
Mozart, or .Bartok, or Bee
thoven of some other group
better in this respect or that.
Still, you will hear these say,
almost invariably, "I heard
the So-and-So. Quartet last
week. They were marvellous
their Beethoven was as good
as, or better than, the Buda-
pests" The Budapest is un-
questionably the standard.
Consider the durability of
the Budapest Quartet. It is the
senior quartet of the world to-
day. Others come, are famous,
and split up or disband. The
personnel of the Budapest
changes slowly. but the tradi-
ton and the spirit always re-
main. It's superlative musician
ship is one of two reasons for
the longevity of the Budapest
Quartet-the obvious reason.
The other is that members OF
the group may not under any
circumstances whatever make
music in public except as the
Budapest Quartet. The four
men must live music not as
four very articulate individ-
uals, but as an inSeparable
combination making up one Of
the most finely balanced and
perishable media in the whole
world of music.
An UnbreokobIe Rule
This self-imposed asceticism
has it's drawbacks. There Is
more to music than the string
quartet, or for that matter
than any other one kind of
performance. There are artists
who feel that to limit their
expressive lives to the rigorous
discipline of four men playing
always together is withering.
Other artists are not so af-
fected, but rather feel that
there is limitless possibility in
their unimpinged-upon sphere.
Alexander Schneider, for many
years second fiddle Of the Bu-
dapest Quartet, left it to
branch out in many flelds-as
soloist, sonata player, conduc-
tor, and to found another
quartet. He would have been
happy to have carried on these
activities simultaneously with
the work of the Quartet. 1t is
possible that he could have
done so. The Quartet refused,
perhaps reluctantly, to allow
it, and Schneider himself never
questioned its wisdom.
81 am the kind Of man who
couldn't stay" he said later,
"but the Budapest Quartet
would have been something
less than it is If I had stayed
with it and even drawn a bow
elsewhere"