The Kodály Quartet is a string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 founded in 1965 in Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, originally as Sebestyén Quartet. In 1969, with the approval of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Hungarian Republic, the quartet assumed its present name in honour of the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....

.

The ensemble tours internationally, and has recorded the complete cycles of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert for the Naxos

Naxos Records

Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

 label. Its discography exceeds fifty recordings, mainly for Naxos.

Members

The quartet's present members are:

• Attila Falvay 1st violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Erika Tóth 2nd violin
• János Fejérvári viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  
• György Éder violoncello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  

Awards

• Ferenc Liszt Award (1970)
• Artist of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (1990)
• Bartók-Pasztory Award (1996)
• Classic CD Magazine's Best Chamber Music Release (1993)

Select Notable Reviews

• BBC Music Magazine's Pick of the Month, April 2000
• American Record Guide, July/August 2000
• Strad Magazine, February 2001
• MusicWeb UK, February 2001
• Gramophone, December 2002
• Classic Today, June 2005
• The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (several listings, including one "Rosette")

Sources

• Archives of the Ferenc Liszt Society
• Archives of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic
• Archives of the Bartók-Pásztory Foundation
• Archives of the publishers of Classic CD Magazine
• Archives of the British Broadcasting Coproration, BBC Music Magazine
• The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, ISBN 978-0-14-051497-1
• Archives of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary
• Kodály Quartet entry in the German edition of Wikipedia
• Naxos discography