The Quartet No. 4 by Gunther Schuller, which the Juilliard String Quartet is performing on February 11 for the first time in New York, is dedicated to the memory of Felix Galimir. Mr. Galimir is vividly remembered by so many of us in the New York area and the Juilliard community as a violinist, quartet leader, and master teacher. He was born in Vienna in 1910, and his early studies were with Adolf Bak and Carl Flesch. In the late 1920s he formed a string quartet with his three sisters, which very quickly built up a successful concert career touring throughout Europe. The Galimir Quartet dedicated itself to the music of its time—particularly to the composers of the second Wiener Schule: Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. The quartet studied the Lyric Suite with Alban Berg and made the very first recording of that work. It also recorded the Ravel Quartet under the composer's supervision. Mr. Galimir was a member of the Vienna Philharmonic until 1938, when the political situation which sanctioned persecution of the Jews forced him to leave first the orchestra and then Austria. He emigrated to Palestine (as it was called under the British Mandate) before arriving in the U.S. later that year, settling in New York (where he joined the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini). He continued his quartet in New York, with new members gradually replacing his sisters. (Felix's sister Renee Hurtig played viola for quite a few years; I was asked to join in 1961 and was a member of the Galimir Quartet until I joined the Juilliard Quartet in 1969.)

Felix Galimir in 1991. Photo by Peter Schaaf

Felix Galimir was a very widely known and respected teacher. He was a faculty member at Juilliard, Curtis, Mannes, and the City University of New York. In the summers, he was a senior member at Rudolf Serkin's Marlboro Music Festival. His profound knowledge of the chamber music and solo repertoire and his uncanny ability to put together and clearly voice extremely complex music caused him to become a major influence on generations of music students from everywhere in the world who studied in the United States from the mid-1950s to his passing in 1999. I very much count myself as one of those fortunate enough to have learned a great deal from him. In addition to being a member of his quartet, I played with him on numerous other occasions.

The caring, compassionate, human qualities he and his wife Suzanne possessed also affected people who were not involved professionally with music. One such person was Brian Sands, a writer who now resides in New Orleans but lived with his family in the apartment immediately above the Galimirs' on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A good part of Mr. Sands' childhood and youth was spent listening to sounds of practicing and rehearsing wafting up to him from one floor below. He had the wonderful idea of commissioning a string quartet in Felix's memory, and contacted Anthony Checchia, the administrative head of the Marlboro Festival.

Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series: Juilliard String Quartet Alice Tully Hall Tuesday, Feb. 11, 8 p.m. For time and ticket information, please see the calendar.

When my colleagues and I were contacted by Mr. Checchia and informed of Brian Sands' intention, we began to think of who would be a suitable composer for this project: one who very much took into account the traditions of the past, bringing them forward in his own, original way to our own time—one who also had elements of the American tradition as part of his musical style. We quickly recognized that these qualities exactly describe the music of Gunther Schuller, and we were delighted and grateful that he accepted the commission, the result of which you will hear at our concert in Alice Tully Hall. It reflects the musical values that Felix held dear. I am very sure that he would have appreciated the work—and I sincerely hope all of you do, too.

Samuel Rhodes, violist of the Juilliard String Quartet, has been a faculty member since 1969.