The Cramer Quartet has recently performed at the Morgan Library, Academy of Early Music, the Stearns Collection of Instruments at the University of Michigan, the Portland Bach Experience, and the world premiere of cello quintet Soul Bop by Brian Nabors at the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia. The Cramer Quartet is in the midst of Haydn: Dialogues, an ambitious multi-year cycle combining Haydn’s 68 string quartets with sixteen new commissions by American composers. This season will also include the next installment of Haydn: Dialogues, featuring the world premiere of a new work by Darian Donovan Thomas to be performed alongside Haydn’s Op. 76 string quartets. Highlights of past seasons include performances of The Seven Last Words Project— an immersive multimedia journey through Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ as reflected upon by seven diverse contemporary composers— at Five Boroughs Music Festival; the quartet’s debut at Music Mountain Summer Festival as the first period instrument ensemble to perform in the concert series 92 year history, and a residency at Festival de Música de Santa Catarina in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil.

The Cramer Quartet is generously supported by New York State Council of the Arts and the Copland Foundation, and is the recipient of a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement Grant, Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant. The ensemble takes its name from Wilhelm Cramer, a brilliant violinist who enjoyed a multifaceted career as London’s first major string quartet leader. Cramer is credited with popularizing a late 18th century violin bow which became the inspiration for the style of historical bows used by the Cramer Quartet.

Wilhelm Cramer (1746-1799), the namesake of The Cramer Quartet, continues to be regarded as one of the foremost violinists of the Classical era. Born in 1746 into a family of renowned Mannheim musicians, he began musical studies at an early age; his teachers included Johann Stamitz and Christian Cannabich, among others. By 1752 he joined the famous Mannheim orchestra (following in the footsteps of his father, violinist Jakob Cramer), where he earned a reputation as one of the top violinists of the day. He eventually left Mannheim for Stuttgart to work for the Duke of Württemberg, who gave him the opportunity to travel to London and Paris. During his travels Cramer frequented the Concert Spirituel in Paris, and found his way to London in 1772.

London’s audiences greeted Cramer with open arms, encouraging him to settle in city. Over the next twenty years, Cramer enjoyed a prolific career as London’s leading violinist. He was praised not only for his brilliant solo playing, but also for his skill as an orchestral leader. Cramer led the Bach-Abel Concerts beginning in 1773, as well as “The Professional Concert” concert series at the Hanover Square Rooms. He led at the Italian Opera from 1777 to 1796, and received many invitations to perform chamber music at court through his connections with J.C. Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel; these favorable opportunities eventually led to an appointment as leader of the Queen’s Chamber Band. Cramer maintained an active career as a concerto soloist, as well as London’s first major string quartet leader. As chamber musician to King George III, he directed all concerts at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and also led the Handel Commemoration Concerts at Westminster Abbey from 1784-1791.

Cramer was known for his signature bowing style, which featured an off-the-string articulation, unlike the ubiquitous on-the-string technique of the time. Cramer’s new technique led to a model of Classical bow bearing his name. The “Cramer” style bow, pictured below, features a blunt, square tip as opposed to the swan tip of other transitional bow models.