Gustav Dannreuther

Who was Gustav Dannreuther?

Gustav Dannreuther was a violinist and conductor from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1871, at the age of 18, he was sent to the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied violin under Heinrich De Ahna, famed violinist Joseph Joachim, and Heitel.

He left the school in 1874, spent six months in Paris, and then publicly taught and played in London until 1877. Later, until 1880, he was a member of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston, traveling through the United States, and Canada, including Newfoundland. Dannreuther and his ensemble's high musical standards contributed to the establishment of widespread Chamber music playing in the United States.

Dannreuther became a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1880, and played in its first concert in Boston's Symphony Hall on October 22, 1881. He then returned to his preferred chamber music ensemble, and conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Society from 1882 to 1884, marrying local resident Nellie M. Taylor in 1882.

In 1884, he formed the Dannreuther String Quartet, a predecessor to the Kneisel Quartet. For a time, the Dannreuther quartet was the longest-lived string quartet in the United States, lasting for thirty years.