First, let us introduce ourselves. We are The Quartet of the Longbeards, and ours is a simple philosophy: We are chamber musicians whose mission it is to share with our listeners the joy that goes with making music. Chamber music in general, of course --- and the string quartet literature in particular!
Now, while we realize that string quartet music, like mostly all forms of music, does not necessarily embody happiness, we believe that not everyone is fully capable of appreciating our form of music if, at the very least, one is not having as much fun hearing the music as one would playing the music. Essentially, we like to have fun playing it, hearing it, and sharing it with our audiences!
Our website will not only introduce you to each of us individually, we'll also link you to the world's greatest string quartets, our favorite classical radio stations, classical and chamber music festivals throughout the world, especially our own personal favorite, Nicholas Gordon's legendary Music Mountain in Falls Village, Connecticut: --- and lots and lots of Facebook and YouTube links for classical music lovers across the cosmos! We will, in addition, reveal our Top 10 favorite classical composers, along with our picks for our 10 favorite pieces for two violins, viola and cello. Why, we'll even tell you the Story of the Muller Brothers Quartets --- how one family from Brunswick, Germany produced two string quartets whose members were all brothers!
For us, string quartet music is probably the most civilized form of music on earth. We hope that, by introducing, or, for that matter, re-introducing you to its world and all its related arts and skills, we can provide you, the listener, with a more advanced appreciation of all that it has to offer!
Welcome, then, to our apartment, at 119 West 81st Street and Central Park West in New York City. It's here that we moved a few short years ago, after having left the violin paradise that is the Bavarian village of Mittenwald. Mittenwald is where each of the four of us were born and raised, and it's where we learned to play our respective instruments. Indeed, when we first started together as a performing quartet, we called ourselves das Mittenvalderkwartett; it was not until later, when we were playing at a school to teach the youngsters, that a rather rude youngster muttered: "Bah! Look at the quartet of the longbeards!" As you can imagine, the name stuck; in fact, we liked it so much ourselves, we eventually adopted it, and The Quartet of the Longbeards we have happily remained ever since.
By the way, in case you were wondering, yes, our beards ARE real, and we actually did grow them over time. After all, even in the world of string-quartet playing, image is everything!
And now that you know what to expect from us, we invite you to listen in as we share our love of chamber music and the string quartet literature with the world. Please enjoy!