Gustav Dannreuther
Gustav Dannreuther was an American violinist and conductor of German descent. He was born in Cincinnati on July 21, 1853, and died in New York City on December 19, 1923.
From 1871 to 1874, he studied at the Berlin Academy of Music with Joseph Joachim and Heinrich de Ahna. He performed and taught for a time in Paris and London, then returned to the United States in 1877 and played with Boston’s Mendelssohn Quintet. In 1881, he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at its founding and performed at its first concert on October 22. He soon left the orchestra to focus on chamber music.
In 1884, Dannreuther formed the Dannreuther String Quartet, later known as the Beethoven Quartet. The ensemble continued in various forms for about 30 years and held an important place in American musical life around the turn of the century. Dannreuther and his colleagues helped promote the chamber music of Antonín Dvořák in the United States.
From 1907, Dannreuther taught at Vassar College and wrote several instructional works. Arthur Foote dedicated his Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 9, No. 3, to him. Dannreuther’s wife, pianist Nellie Morton Taylor, often performed with his quartet, joining it as a piano quintet.