*
>> It started
with four young musicians.
>> Wow, I'd like to play
like those guys.
>> One dream...
>> Of Titans
of the quartet business.
>> Surviving through
two world wars.
>> What vision and what courage.
>> The Pro Arte Quartet
captivated a queen,
and found a home in Wisconsin.
>> The University of Wisconsin
was a real trailblazer.
>> Enduring for more than
100 years.
>> The longest running
string quartet.
>> To preserve the legacy.
>> To keep a legacy like that
alive is exciting.
>> And it shows in every
concert performance.
*
>> The Pro Arte Quartet
A Century of Music.
>> Funding for this program
provided in part
by the Evjue Foundation, Inc.,
the charitable arm
of the Capital Times;
Dr. Robert and Linda Graebner;
Dr. Stanley and Shirley Inhorn;
and Friends of
Wisconsin Public Television.
*
>> They were whiz kids.
They were remarkable.
>> Hot shots, teenage prodigies,
virtuosos,
all describe this quartet
born in Belgium.
>> All of them at the outset
were brilliant young students.
Only one of them
was out of his teens.
The Brussels Conservatory
was a hot house of
international musical activity.
>> The quartet made it's
public debut in 1912.
Traditionally, it was custom
to take the name of the first
violinist, and Alphonse Onnou
was clearly the leader.
>> There was pressure to name
the quartet "The Onnou Quartet."
>> But Onnou refused
to follow tradition.
Instead, they chose the neutral
name, Quatuor Pro Arte,
or the Quartet for the Arts.
>> It's the qualities
of the original quartet
that impress me most.
Their abilities,
and their vision,
and their devotion to ideals
that today
we can really appreciate.
>> In 1921, cellist Robert Maas
joined Alphonse Onnou,
Germain Prévost,
and Laurent Halleux.
The Pro Arte now had
the four Belgian musicians
who would rise to greatness,
practicing every day,
including Sundays.
But the musicians would be
forced in the coming years
to adapt
and meld with newcomers,
Mostly Americans.
>> So, there was
a lot of transitional turmoil,
complicated by deaths,
departures, and the war.
>> And now,
more than 100 years later,
the Pro Arte Quartet
is uniquely Wisconsin.
>> I think you can hear
traditions in how people play
and the style and ideals
in their ear.
And to keep a legacy like that
alive is exciting.
>> The Pro Arte
is believed to be the oldest
continually performing
string quartet in the world.
Today it pays homage
to the past, and
to composers like Ernest Bloch
who wrote masterpieces
for the quartet.
>> Ernest Bloch's music
has tremendous conviction.
He writes beautifully
for string instruments.
The Pro Arte Quartet
in the '80s, actually
when I was in the group,
we recorded
all of his string quartets.
We started the 100th season
with that.
>> And it was, of course, chosen
because of the long history
of the quartet
with the composer, Mr. Bloch.
[snare drum tapping]
>> The first world war
was a time of turmoil
for the quartet, as members
were called off to war.
Then in the early '20s,
the membership stabilized.
>> When the smoke cleared,
they were already
possessed of skills
equal to what any quartet
could mount anywhere.
>> By 1926, they set sail
for their American debut.
Performing at the inauguration
for the Library of Congress
Hall of Music,
a visit capped by an invitation
to play at the White House.
International prominence
soon followed
and the Queen of Belgium
took notice.
>> Queen Elisabeth
of the Belgians
was a remarkable lady,
an accomplished violinist
herself,
and a great patron of music
and very much supported
the conservatory
and the faculty,
the students who were there.
>> The Pro Arte was given
the honorary title,
Quatuor de la Cour de Belgique,
or Quartet of the Belgian Court.
The most admired and revered
string quartet of its time.
>> It also eventually led
to having a quartet
that the Belgian government
could use at the World's Fair
in New York, and played
at the Belgian Pavilion.
>> In that same year, 1939,
at the invitation
of the University of Wisconsin,
they arrived in Madison.
>> The next year,
the Pro Arte Quartet returned
to Wisconsin as the rhetoric
of a second world war
reverberated across Europe.
>> So, what happened in 1940
was a series of disruptions
made against the background
of World War II.
The cellist, Robert Maas,
because of misdiagnosed illness,
got stuck before they left.
They were able to get
a very good cellist,
an experienced quartet cellist,
to replace him.
They hoped Maas
would rejoin them.
That never did, in fact, happen.
>> But what did happen next
changed the quartet's course
forever.
On May 10, 1940,
the Quatuor Pro Arte
of Brussels was celebrating
the opening of a new
University of Wisconsin
landmark.
>> They were performing
Beethoven's "Cycle"
on this campus,
I believe at what was then
the new Memorial Union.
And that the news of Hitler's
invasion of Belgium
came basically at that moment.
>> Came out on stage
and announced that Belgium
had been invaded
by the German forces.
And apparently
the players had not heard.
It was just a sudden,
fast-breaking news.
So, I'm sure it came as a jolt
to them.
>> Despite the fear
for their own families
and for Maas, their cellist
back in Belgium,
they finished the concert.
>> It probably was the only way
to keep their sanity when
they realized what this meant.
>> The quartet was homeless.
Their homeland occupied
by the Nazis.
Next, the University
of Wisconsin did something
it had never done.
In fact, something
no American university
It offered the quartet
personal and artistic asylum.
>> The University of Wisconsin
was a real trailblazer in
the artists-in-residence idea.
>> The offer of an artists
ensemble in-residency not only
saved the Pro Arte Quartet,
but it created a model
that guaranteed
the future success
of string quartets in America.
>> It was very difficult,
especially in
the post World War II years,
for string quartets
to have a working world,
a working living,
a chance to make a living.
>> The crisis of war
had a dramatic impact on music
and musicians.
>> Of course,
any time there's war,
it interrupts the flow of music
and the attitudes about music.
And so, the way the war
changed their future,
they had to change countries.
That made it tenuous and without
the University of Wisconsin,
the name of Pro Arte
wouldn't have continued.
*
>> The Pro Arte Quartet
was one of the few to endure.
And still plays
with its original bravado
and historic mission
celebrating contemporary music.
More than 100 works
have been written for,
dedicated to,
or premiered by the Quartet.
Works including 20th century
masters like Bartók, Ravel,
and this rarely played
Quartet No. 7
by Darius Milhaud.
>> Of course, Milhaud
is virtually a household name
in the music business,
and not only
premiered by the Pro Arte,
but also dedicated
and written for the Pro Arte.
And I was astonished
that it had not,
as far as I can tell so far,
been performed in Madison.
*
>> I was probably eight or nine
when I discovered an LP
of the group
that my parents had.
>> When I heard the recording
of the Franck Quartet,
that they recorded, I went,
"Wow, I'd like to play
like those guys."
>> When I was in my teens
and learning a piece, and
I had the Pro Arte recording,
I was like,
"Oh, that's amazing."
>> The original group,
of course,
was the trailblazing quartet
in terms of recording.
>> In 1931, the Pro Arte began
its famed recording career,
when audio recording
was in it's infancy.
>> They were one of the first
quartets that made a career
entirely by performing.
That was pretty rare, and
they were RCA Victor's quartet
in the 78 days.
>> It used the initials HMV
for "His Masters Voice."
I'm sure you recall
the pictures of the dog looking
into the phonograph horn.
>> The Pro Arte
recorded in London
at Abbey Road Studios.
>> Abbey Road.
They were, if not the first,
among the very first groups
to perform in that studio.
Some of the most eminent
musicians of the 20th century
raised the roof of that studio,
and the Pro Arte
was there with them.
>> A studio made famous
in later years
by another fab four.
One of the Pro Arte's pursuits,
to record all of Haydn's
quartets, all 83.
>> The Pro Arte made a bid
for it, and said, "Oh, we know
all the Haydn quartets,"
even though they really didn't.
And at one point, they appeared
expecting to play one quartet
from the Opus 20,
and instead on the music stands
they found a different quartet,
which they'd never played
before.
And Prévost is said to have
pointed this out to Onnou,
"We don't know this."
And Onnou said,
"Shut up and play."
They did, and they recorded it
virtually from sight.
*
>> And today,
the recordings continue.
To celebrate it's centennial,
the Pro Arte Quartet
recorded six new works
honoring its century-long
commitment to new music.
>> And to this day,
every year, virtually,
that I've been in the quartet,
we've premiered works
that were written for us.
>> The quartet hired
a Grammy Award-winning producer
for a new composition by
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
John Harbison.
>> He's incredibly intelligent,
and I always am trying
to be smart enough to play
what he's written.
>> He's definitely one of the
premier American composers.
It's a very challenging piece
for every member of the group.
The last movement in particular
has some hauntingly beautiful
harmonies.
It's definitely something
we've enjoyed playing.
*
>> Throughout the last century,
the Pro Arte Quartet
evolved from
its Belgian pedigree
into an American classic,
as musicians would come and go.
>> Anytime you change one member
of a quartet, the whole quartet,
if you've got the right person,
changes.
>> Despite 26 different
musicians, war, and death,
the ensemble endures.
>> When Onnou died
in November of 1940,
that was a terrible blow.
I think what Europeans
tended to think
was that the quartet was over,
especially once--
Well, Maas had left,
Onnou died.
And you still get among
many European commentators
the idea, "Well, the Pro Arte
Quartet ended in 1940, period."
>> Onnou was gone,
but not forgotten in Madison,
where in 2012,
there was a tribute
to the original first violinist.
>> Alphonse Onnou is buried
in Forest Hills Cemetery,
along with his wife.
So we had a little ceremony
at their grave.
>> It was a cold day.
But there was just one moment
of sunlight,
and it was actually
extremely peaceful and touching.
I performed a piece,
the Stravinsky Elegy,
which was written
in memory of him.
>> But the Quartet played on,
connecting present and past.
Germain Prévost was another
one of the original whiz kids.
>> I knew Germain Prévost.
He was the original violist,
and he was in it
from the beginning
through the first seven years
that the quartet was here
at the University of Wisconsin.
He was happy how the quartet
had continued.
The last time we saw him
was really very special.
He had had a stroke.
He couldn't talk.
So we brought
our instruments and music,
and he was very happy to see us
and picked out a Brahms quartet
that he wanted us to play.
He wanted to sit right
in the middle of the quartet,
so he was surrounded
by four stands, which I thought
was really an incredible thing,
and we played this quartet
for him.
And I remember
in the slow movement,
he had tears streaming down.
>> Germain Prévost
was the only Belgian remaining
in 1944, when Rudolph Kolisch
joined the quartet.
>> The university made a good
choice when it brought him in
as first violinist,
because it brought
a whole new invigoration,
not only to the quartet,
but to the music school
in general.
>> A childhood injury
in his native Austria
forced Kolisch to
play his violin backwards,
fingering with his right hand
and bowing with his left.
>> Kolisch was instrumental
in setting a standard
for the group.
He demanded such a high quality,
which we try
to live up to today.
>> He would sit down
with the players,
he would insist
that they perform from memory.
>> Life magazine,
in September, 1948,
featured Kolisch and the quartet
in a cover story called
"The Good Life
in Madison, Wisconsin."
But the good times didn't last.
Tensions and creative
differences got so bad
the quartet threatened
to disintegrate around Kolisch.
>> Kolisch is quite
controversial.
And anyone who knew him,
if you mention his name,
it's either...
[gasps]
or Mm-hmm.
>> When Kolisch left,
the university
reinvigorated the quartet
by hiring Norman Paulu.
He would lead the Pro Arte
for the next 28 years.
>> Norman Paulu gave
a stability, a reliability,
a thorough professionalism,
to the quartet,
over very bumpy years.
He had to preside over a lot of
[sighs]
steamy times.
>> In the mid-'70s,
under financial constraints,
the UW withdrew support
from the quartet,
no longer paying them
for concert appearances.
In protest, the Pro Arte
performances on campus stopped.
The university
eventually reversed course,
finding a balance between
performing and teaching.
At the same time, cellist
Parry Karp joined the quartet.
>> I remember when I auditioned
for the quartet,
I was a young kid.
>> No one knew "that kid" would
become a Pro Arte institution,
as its longest serving member.
Since 1976, Karp has played
more than 1,000 concerts.
Violist Sally Chisholm
signed on in 1988.
Violinist Suzanne Beia
joined its prestigious ranks
in 1995, when
first violinist David Perry
took over the Pro Arte Quartet's
leadership.
>> David Perry has the advantage
of taking over
a stabilized membership.
>> But perhaps the Pro Arte's
greatest American influence
came from the nurturing
and patronage of one woman.
>> Well, she was an incredible
patron of the arts
and chamber music in the
first half of the 20th century.
>> She's legendary in what
she did for music and the arts.
>> "She" is Elizabeth
Sprague Coolidge, cousin
to President Calvin Coolidge.
>> She was a big supporter
of the Pro Arte Quartet.
She almost became
a kind of a mother figure.
>> She even cared for Onnou
when he was dying, and then
hand picked his successor,
by convincing the university
to hire Spanish-born violinist
Antonio Brosa
as the Pro Arte's new leader.
>> It was a feather in her cap
that this was "her group."
>> Coolidge gets credit
for introducing
the Belgian quartet to America.
>> She invited them to come
to a concert she'd arranged
at the American School in Rome,
and it was there, as you
may know, that the quartet
made the first performance
of Barber's String Quartet,
Adagio, and all.
>> The concert helped launch
their American career
and the adagio has remained
a mainstay in its repertoire.
*
>> From those early years
in Belgium,
to new beginnings in Wisconsin,
one thing
has always remained the same,
a dedication to the ideals
of the original
Pro Arte Quartet.
>> This is kind of what I've
dreamed of since childhood,
is being part of a quartet
like this.
*
>> It's a life commitment.
>> You have to check your ego
at the door.
>> We rehearse five days a week.
>> Three hours every morning.
>> From 9:00 until noon.
>> Monday through Friday.
>> Plus whatever concerts
we do touring.
>> Around the state and
sometimes around the country.
>> So we know each other
pretty well.
>> It's a big commitment, but
the rewards are well worth it.
>> Our daily companions
are Haydn, and Mozart,
and Schubert, and Beethoven,
and Brahms.
So, every day, you're working
with some of the greatest
artists that ever lived.
>> From classic composers
to contemporary works,
the Pro Arte Quartet
still embraces its past
as a way to forge its future.
>> Funding for
the Pro Arte Quartet
A Century of Music
is provided in part
by the Evjue Foundation, Inc.,
the charitable arm
of the Capital Times;
Dr. Robert and Linda Graebner;
Dr. Stanley and Shirley Inhorn;
and Friends of
Wisconsin Public Television.
>> To purchase a DVD
of the Pro Arte Quartet
A Century of Music, including
extended concert performances,
call 1-800-422-9707
or visit
the Wisconsin Public Television
online store at wpt.org.