The Griller String Quartet was a British musical ensemble particularly active from 1931 to c.1961 or 1963, when it was disbanded. The quartet was in residence at the University of California at Berkeley from 1949 to 1961. It performed a wide repertory, including works written for it by Ernest Bloch , Darius Milhaud , and Arnold Bax .
7-649: The personnel included: 1st violin: Sidney Griller 2nd violin: Jack O'Brien viola: Philip Burton violoncello: Colin Hampton Among the Quartet's first recordings was that of the oboe quintet written by Elizabeth Maconchy (a pupil of Ralph Vaughan Williams ), a work which was a prize winner in the London Daily Telegraph Chamber Music Competition of 1933. They performed at Gloucester Cathedral in
14-588: A son and daughter. During the Second World War the quartet gave many concerts for the RAF . In 1949 they became resident quartet at University of California at Berkeley . In 1945 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM). Griller was appointed CBE in 1951. The quartet disbanded in 1963; in 1964 he returned to the Royal Academy of Music, teaching chamber music, and his classes began
21-754: The Three Choirs Festival in September 1934. The Quartet gave the premiere of the Arnold Cooke first string quartet in 1935. In 1944 they performed the Arnold Bax quartet no 1 in G major at the Duke's Hall in a special concert with Clifford Curzon , on behalf of Sir Henry J. Wood . In performance they were sometimes joined by William Primrose , Max Gilbert or Denis Matthews . The Griller Quartet recorded extensively for Decca Records in
28-879: The Alfred J. Waley Prize (1928). He graduated in 1929 with the Academy’s Certificate of Merit, its highest award. In 1928, whilst a student at the RAM he founded the Griller Quartet , coached initially by the viola player Lionel Tertis . By 1931 the quartet established a reputation in Europe. In January 1931 they made a debut in New York City Hall , and subsequently obtained a contract with NBC . The quartet played classics and contemporary works, and made recordings. In 1932 Griller married Honor Linton; they had
35-903: The careers of a number of successful string quartets including the Alberni Quartet , the Coull Quartet , the Fitzwilliam Quartet and the Lindsay Quartet . He also gave chamber music classes at the Yehudi Menuhin School . In 1981 at the University of York he received an honorary doctorate from the Fitzwilliam Quartet, the resident quartet there. After retirement from the Royal Academy of Music in 1986, he gave masterclasses at
42-461: The later 78rpm and early LP era. Some examples of their recorded art are as follows: For a virtually complete list, see DECCA CLASSICAL, 1929-2009 . Sidney Griller Sidney Griller CBE (10 January 1911 – 20 November 1993) was an English violinist. He was leader of the Griller Quartet from 1928 to 1963, and a teacher of chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music . Griller
49-605: Was born in 1911; his parents, Salter Griller and Hannah Green, were Jewish immigrants, with a shop in the East End of London . Aged 13, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music . Whilst at the Royal Academy of Music, Griller was a winner of the Dove Scholarship (1925), a Gowland Harrison scholar (1928 & 1929), a prizeholder of the Sir Edward Cooper Prize (1927 & 1928) and a winner of
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