Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #284660 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
Chamber-music lovers will rejoice in this story of the formation, nurturing, and maturing of the Guarneri String Quartet. First violinist Arnold Steinhardt has written a delightful memoir that radiates the love of music and sense of mutual respect and affection that have kept the Guarneri's players together since the ensemble was founded in 1964. How a famous, extremely busy musician learned to write so well is a mystery, but Steinhardt's style is as engaging and captivating as his playing. After sketching his own and his colleagues' pre-quartet careers, he describes how they choose and rehearse their repertoire and how they resolve their inevitable disagreements--and he even throws light on the inexplicable magic that happens in performance. Steinhardt recounts the pleasures and hardships of traveling and the group's partnership with illustrious guests (notably pianist Artur Rubinstein); he tells musical and personal anecdotes, wryly poking fun at himself and others, but never saying a malicious or derogatory word about anyone. Most remarkably, his discussions of a score are illuminating without becoming too technical. Steinhardt describes the emotional impact of music with a strikingly felicitous, often poetic touch, yet his characterizations resonate with his own experience and avoid the overblown or extravagant. Though it helps to know the music he feels so strongly about, this is a book anyone can enjoy. --Edith Eisler

From Publishers Weekly
There are few good books written from inside a notable string quartet, and Steinhardt's effort is a charming one. Having been together for 35 years, the Guarneri quartet, with John Dalley, Michael Tree, David Soyer and Steinhardt as first violin, is the oldest American group to have preserved the same membership. With self-effacing modesty (he is the first to insist that the first violin is not necessarily the leader of the group, though he may play a prominent role), Steinhardt describes both his own career and that of the group. He could have been a soloist or a successful orchestral musician, like most chamber players, but chose otherwise. The reasons he givesAthe unwillingness to be regimented, the need for companionship on the road, the closeness to the musicAare cogent ones, but a chamber group with permanent membership is an extraordinary organism all the same. Steinhardt skillfully describes the tensions, the long-running jokes, the arguments, the determinedly separate vacationsAand the ecstasy when all the skills and long hours of practice come together in performances that strike to the heart of some of the most intimate music ever composed. The Guarneri, while not perhaps the most glamorous of American quartets, has well deserved its sturdy longevity, and Steinhardt's book gives an excellent sense of the dynamics that have kept it going. A discography of this much-recorded group would have been a welcome addition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The Guarneri String Quartet, formed 35 years ago by Steinhardt, John Dalley, Michael Tree, and David Soyer, may owe its legendary longevity to any number of elements Steinhardt describes in this cheerful, informative chronicle. That they continue to "have fun" playing great music together may be fundamental to their continuance, but Steinhardt's readers will conclude that the aesthetic and intellectual growth such a long, vivacious, trusting association has afforded them is equally important. This is Steinhardt's musical autobiography, but in addition to commentary on the other quartet members and their interaction, it also contains Steinhardt's engaging musings on four-part music in general, amateur string players, and particular pieces of the repertoire. Recordings, a film, articles, and other books document the group's history, but this inside view from its first violinist, filled with new stories told with great happiness, will be welcomed by all who know and love their work. Recommended.?Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Lib., College Park
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Lovely
This is a simply lovely book. I was a music student at Yale a few years before the author studied at Curtis, and his book invokes that time for me as if it were yesterday. I think anyone would enjoy it greatly even beyond the music, for it shows how four highly talented, strongly opinionated, dynamic men could blend into a coherent group - in their case, to make music, but law partners (I changed careers) could learn a lot from their example. A wonderful book.

A joy to read
This book was a joy to read. Not only is Arnold Steinhardt a superb violinist, he's also a very good writer. No doubt it helps to appreciate this book if you're a fan of the Guarneri Quartet and a lover of the string quartet literature, but I found Steinhardt so charming, and the story so compelling, I imagine the book might have a broader appeal. It's a story of a kid pursuing a dream, then the kid and the dream both maturing while a love of chamber music develops, which then requires the dream of solo stardom to give way to a lifelong collaboration with three others. The three others, of course, share his passion for chamber music, and particularly for that ineffable, almost perfect form they choose to make their life's work together. They start out exploring and experimenting, with hardly a penny. They grope their way towards playing as an ensemble, gradually become established, and then come the constant touring, recording, families. They learn how to stay together by creating boundaries, and they stay together for over four decades (although the original cellist retired before the rest, this book was written before his retirement).

We meet a lot of famous musicians, and there are many interesting and sometimes humorous anecdotes, but the most interesting parts of the book have to do with the music and its making. Steinhardt mentions the cavatina from Beethoven's Op. 130 more than any other piece or movement - clearly it's had a special place in his life. I saw the Guarneri a few months ago, during their final season, and it was bittersweet. They played Beethoven's Op. 74 and his Op. 130 with the Op. 133 Grosse Fuge as the final movement. It was magnificent. I prefer their late Beethoven to anyone else's. Mr. Steinhardt looked liked he'd aged considerably in only a year or so. I'll miss them. I'm grateful to have this book along with their recordings now that they're retiring.

A Good Read for Any Musician
I would recommend this book for any musician, especially a member of an ensemble. This book gives a good insight of the personal dynamics between the members and why they have been successful and together for so many years.