Another major string quartet breaks up
NewsThe St. Lawrence String Quartet, founded in Toronto in 1989, have decided to disband this summer.
The group had called a one-year hiatus after the death of founding violinist Geoff Nuttall.
They were known for close involvement with strong composers – Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, Jonathan Berger, Mark Applebaum and R. Murray Schafer – and multiple recordings.
They learned and played the Spohr Quartet Concerto with the JCC Symphony Orchestra, which I conducted, in Rockville Maryland back in 1993, great pleasure. And their recital the night before included a splendid performance of one of the late Beethoven quartets, Op. 132, I believe. I was saddened to hear of Geoff’s passing, and even more so to hear that the Quartet, a most estimable group, had decided to disband….
Estimable does not mean what you think it means. It is a term of degradation.
It’s really not.
I think you’ll find you’re wrong about that (you may use it in a negative way, but most people don’t)
I’d be curious to know which dictionary you use. Oxford, Collins, and Merriam-Webster all agree with Mr. Lazar’s use, as does The New York Times, which named “estimable” its word of the day on October 6, 2023.
Dont teach languages you don’t know out of other people’s books.
It is related to the word esteem, so usually means ‘worthy of respect’
Not really meant as faint [feint?] praise normally. And I’ve just remembered that I heard their NY debut concert at Carnegie Recital Hall back around the mid-late 1960s. Also very fine.
1960’s??? Not possible
It is a positive reference!
Synonyms for Estimable:
admirable
applaudable
commendable
creditable
laudable
meritorious
praiseworthy
Estimable – adjective · worthy of esteem; deserving respect or admiration
Geoff Nuttall was a force of nature — did he play the Spohr with you ?… I agree with your estimation…. probably, given how central he was to the group, it’s a wise decision to disband…(I cannot understand why the Juilliard still goes on, without any of its members represented anymore — of course, the institution needs their “Aushängeschild” !…)
One of my greatest professional AND personal privileges has been to serve as manager for St. Lawrence String Quartet for the past 22 years. They were undoubtedly the most immediate and spontaneous string quartet I’ve ever encountered, and they somehow did it night after night. Geoff was the primary force of nature, but the ability of his colleagues to respond in real time to his inspiration yielded sheer magic. The ensemble – along with Geoff – represented a singularity in the chamber music universe. We are all the richer for the glorious decades they gave us! Thank you, Lesley, Owen, and Chris, and RIP, Geoff.
I guess there’s a problem when one member of a quartet acts as the driving force behind everything.
“St. Lawrence String Quartet” is a great Canadian brand.
It’s a shame they moved to California decades ago and an even bigger shame, when so many young quartets struggle for a name and identity, that they now choose to dissolve.
The Borodin Quartet and the Smetana Trio, for example, are in at least their third iterations today, not counting replacement of individual members.
Nuttall’s memory, young musicians and Canada would be better served if the Stanford-salaried surviving members made the effort to recruit new players and allowed the brand to continue.
True – shades of The Who post-Keith Moon, or the Rolling Stones, post-Brian Jones. Or for that matter, the Juilliard Quartet, post-a million other players.
It is quite wrong to headline these events as if it were an economic or societal theme. Many of these stories, as here, are about the life cycle of a quartet. 30+ years and death of the leader is not a story about “another” one breaking up.
I could care less. All dogs get their day. I remember a member of that quartet named B.S. The arrogance of many string players is utterly sickening.