Dear Users,

You are cordially invited to the first MUSIC LIBRARY LIVE 2025-2026 screening event of this semester, The Guarneri String Quartet performs 2 string quartets by Beethoven. Through vivid images and mind-blowing sound, you can travel back 4 decades by time machine and join the audience of the legendary chamber music ensemble!

*School visitors need to scan the QR code in the poster to register for the event (one person only for each registration), while staff and students can participate on the scene without registration.

Content of Screening: The Guarneri String Quartet performs 2 string quartets by Beethoven

Performer: Guarneri String Quartet

Time: 4:00-5:00 pm, November 7, 2025 (Friday)

Location: 102 Recital Hall, Academic Office Building, School of Music, CUHK-Shenzhen

Introduction to the performers:

The Guarneri String Quartet is widely regarded as one of the most distinguished and influential chamber ensembles of the latter half of the 20th century. Founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music Festival, the quartet was celebrated worldwide for its superb technique, profound musical camaraderie, and vibrant interpretations. In a remarkable career spanning 45 years, the Guarneri maintained a relatively stable membership, a rarity among the world's top quartets. They performed more than 3,000 concerts across the globe and recorded an extensive and acclaimed discography, covering repertoire from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to Bartók and Shostakovich, significantly promoting and revitalizing the art of the string quartet. The ensemble disbanded with honor in 2009, but its artistic legacy continues to inspire musicians today.

The founding members of the quartet consist of Arnold Steinhardt, John Dalley, Michael Tree and David Soyer, all from America. Arnold Steinhardt (1937-) is a preeminent contemporary American violinist. In 1964, he co-founded the Guarneri String Quartet and served as its first violinist until the ensemble’s dissolution in 2009. His formative musical education took place at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Ivan Galamian and Joseph Szigeti. He held long-standing faculty appointments at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and the Colburn School Conservatory of Music, contributing significantly to violin pedagogy. John Dalley (1936-) was born into a musical family and began playing the violin at the age of three. After studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Efrem Zimbalist, he joined the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and was a member of the Oberlin String Quartet. One of the four original founding members of the Guarneri String Quartet, John has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia both as a soloist and as a member of the quartet. He has also made numerous recordings for the RCA, Phillips and Surroundby, meanwhile holding teaching positions at both the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Maryland. The violist Michael Tree (1935-2018) made his Carnegie Hall debut as a violinist in 1954 and has subsequently appeared as both violinist and violist with many major orchestras. He participated in leading festivals, including Casals, Tanglewood, Aspen, and Marlboro. With the Guarneri String Quartet, Mr. Tree performed on virtually every concert series throughout the world and was awarded the New York City Seal of Recognition. He recorded more than 80 chamber music works for the Columbia, RCA, Philips, Arabesque, Nonesuch, and Vanguard labels. David Soyer (1923-2010) was born in Philadelphia and began playing the piano at the age of nine. At 11, he started the cello and subsequently studied with Emanuel Feuermann and Pablo Casals. As a member of the Guarneri he collaborated with many of the world's most famous classical musicians, including Leonard Rose, the Budapest String Quartet, Pinchas Zukerman, and Arthur Rubinstein. Before joining the quartet he played in various venues including the Navy Band during World War II and later with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini.

Introduction to the program:

The screening presents the Guarneri Quartet’s performance of two Beethoven’s middle-period string quartets.

String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky”, is the final piece in the set of three quartets Beethoven dedicated to the Russian ambassador, Count Razumovsky. This work is grand in scale, filled with symphonic conception and heroic spirit, yet also showcases Beethoven's characteristic humor and lyricism. The final movement is a thrilling fugue, demonstrating the composer’s masterful contrapuntal skill and immense creative energy.

String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso”, marks the transition from Beethoven’s middle period to his late style. This work is renowned for its concentrated brevity, intense emotional contrasts, and dramatic tension. The music is filled with unrest, pathos, and struggle, but ultimately finds resolution in a serene coda, reflecting the profound depths of Beethoven’s inner world.

We look forward to seeing you then. Thank you.

The Music Library of MUS

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

November 4, 2025