The London String Quartet in America

From the 1924 American Columbia catalogue

The London String Quartet, founded in 1908, first came to the USA twelve years later, and, in the words of Tully Potter, "the Americas were the LSQ's Nirvana." They found great success here, so much so that its members eventually settled here. In Britain the ensemble had begun a series of recordings for Columbia in 1914, which included a number of first recordings of "complete" quartets by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann (complete in the sense that entire works were recorded, but with some movements abridged to fit one side). None of these sets had been issued in the USA at the time of their first tours here, so the American record buyer's introduction to the ensemble was through this disc:

Bridge: Two Old English Songs (1916)
(Sally in Our Alley; Cherry Ripe)
The London String Quartet (Levey-Petre-Warner-Evans)
Recorded March 13, 1922
Columbia A-3677, one 10-inch 78-rpm record
Link (FLAC files, 18.03 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 9.85 MB)

During the spring of 1922 and the fall of 1923, the London String Quartet made a series of recordings in New York's Columbia studios, quite separate from their British series (which had, in any case, by this time been taking place for Vocalion). This produced twelve issued sides, mostly of isolated movements from the string quartet repertory. (No complete quartets for the Americans - yet! That would have to wait for the Masterworks series two years later.) Of these, this Bridge coupling is one of the most valuable, for the arrangements were actually given their concert première by the LSQ in 1916, with Bridge himself taking the viola part.

My thanks to Nick Morgan, not only for spotting this record, but for sending it to me.

The L.S.Q. and the L.S.Q.

Léner String Quartet

In the early 1920s English Columbia had two different string quartet ensembles that could claim the initials "L.S.Q."  The first was the London String Quartet, which began recording for Columbia in 1914, then about 1920 jumped ship and moved to Vocalion.  They eventually returned in 1924, but while they were away, a different "L.S.Q." came on board - the Léner String Quartet, founded in 1918 by four students at the High School of Music in Budapest: Jenö Léner, Jozsef Smilovits, Sándor Roth and Imre Hartman.  At first they were heard on records only in isolated string quartet movements, usually abridged, but by 1923 they had recorded their first complete quartet, Mozart's K. 465 (a work they never re-recorded):

Mozart: Quartet No. 19 in C, K. 465 ("Dissonance")
Léner String Quartet
Recorded November 7 & 8, 1923
English Columbia L 1545 through 1548, four 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 81.76 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 31.38 MB)

The following year they recorded their first complete Beethoven quartet - and they would become famous for being the first group to record a complete Beethoven cycle:

Beethoven: Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp minor, Op. 131
Léner String Quartet
Recorded February 11, 21, 22 and August 25, 1924
English Columbia L 1581 through 1585, five 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 116.2 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 43.77 MB)

The above two sets had the distinction, along with the Léners' recording of Haydn's Op. 76, No. 5, of being the first complete string quartets available to the American record buyer, being part of the initial release of Columbia's new "Masterworks" album series of complete works.  The Beethoven was Set No. 6, the Haydn No. 7 and the Mozart No. 8.  (The first five had all been symphonies.)

In 1924 the London String Quartet returned to the English Columbia fold, their initial release being this first complete recording of Haydn's "Emperor":

Haydn: Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3 ("Emperor")
London String Quartet
Recorded December 15 and 17, 1924
English Columbia L 1633 through 1635, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 73.38 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 25.96 MB)

By this time the London String Quartet was being led by James Levey, with founding members Thomas Petre, H. Waldo Warner and C. Warwick Evans covering the other parts.

For those interested in the London String Quartet, I highly recommend a new release on the Music & Arts label, a survey of their concerts at the Library of Congress from 1943-1951.

Albert Sammons plays Grieg

Here is a rare sonata recording by the man considered by many to be the greatest British violinist, Albert Sammons (1886-1957).  It is of Grieg's Sonata in G, Op. 13, recorded on March 12, 1925 with Sammons' longtime sonata partner William Murdoch (1888-1942) at the piano.  This was one of the last acoustical recordings made by Columbia (they had switched to the Western Electric recording process by October 1925) and consequently experienced a very short catalogue life, issued in November 1925 and deleted in Feburary 1928.

Grieg: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G, Op. 13
Albert Sammons, violin; William Murdoch, piano
Recorded March 12, 1925
English Columbia L 1661 through L 1663, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 63.25 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 24.61 MB)

The three Grieg violin sonatas enjoyed a much greater circulation 75-100 years ago than today.  Heifetz recorded Op. 13 in the 1930s, and there's a famous 1928 recording of Op. 45 in C minor by Fritz Kreisler and Sergei Rachmaninoff.  This Sammons recording appears to be the first one made of Op. 13, a charming work.

Only a month after making this recording, and still by the acoustical recording process, Sammons made his first complete recording of a violin concerto, and his only recording of a non-British concerto at that.  This was Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, with an unidentified orchestra conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty.  Early in 2008 I did a transfer of this recording, which is still available for download:

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Albert Sammons, violin, with orchestra conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty
Recorded April 9, 1925
Columbia Masterworks Set No. 30, three 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC file, 65.85 MB)
Link (MP3 file, 24.17 MB)

Albert Sammons, for all his many achievements as a soloist, was also a great quartet leader.  He was one of the founding members of the London String Quartet in 1908 and played first violin in it for nine years, until being called up for military service in 1917.  The Fall 2010 issue of Classic Recordings Quarterly features a fine article by Tully Potter about the LSQ and its recordings.  Late in 2007 I did transfers of a group of LSQ recordings from 1915-17 (when Sammons was still in it), featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Tchaikovsky, which are still available for download:

Mozart: Quartet No. 16 in E-Flat, K. 428
Schubert: Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703 ("Quartettsatz")
Schumann: Quartet No. 3 in A, Op. 41, No. 3
Tchaikovsky: Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11: Scherzo
London String Quartet (led by Albert Sammons)
Recorded 1915-17
English Columbia L 1015, 1043, 1044, 1199, 1200, 5 78-rpm records
Link (FLAC files, 105.6 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 38.35 MB)