We are delighted to be your hosts for the civilized portion of Richard Washington's Blackbeard's Castle. Richard, after all, discovered us, you might say.
Before we begin, let us introduce ourselves. We are The Quartet of the Longbeards, and ours is a simple philosophy: We are chamber musicians dedicated to sharing the love of our chosen field with the young and the young-at-heart; further, we seek the betterment of the enjoyment of chamber music --- by emphasizing its fun, occasionally playful side.
Now, we will admit, chamber music does not always personify happiness. There is, admittedly again, a touch of sadness and often seriousness in the various works in our repertoire, but in our honest opinion, there is simply no sense in playing string quartet pieces if the players are not having as much fun with the music as are the listeners. So, on our homepage, you will be introduced to, among other things, our 10 Favorite Composers of works for string quartet; our 10 Favorite Quartet Pieces --- that is to say, our ten most requested and most enjoyable quartet pieces..... in other words, the quartet works we love to play the most; our unofficial tribute to Nicholas Gordon's Music Mountain in Falls Village, Connecticut --- home of America's oldest and most legendary chamber music festival; and The Story of the Muller Brothers Quartets --- the tale of how one family in Brunswick, Germany produced two string quartets whose members were all brothers! And, of course, you can access these pages if you wish to learn more about us individually --- that is, one member at a time --- or as a group.
And, naturally, our complete Repertoire is posted herein --- and if you think you've heard all the world's favorite quartet works, wait'll you get a load of our lineup, which encompasses works by over 100 of the world's leading and lesser-known composers --- individuals whose passion for two violins, viola and cello more than expands our own love for this type of ensemble!
Also, our site features some of the Programmes we Longbeards have prepared for our younger audiences, along with newer, more extensive links to string quartet homepages from all over the world.
By the way, in case you were wondering, yes, our beards ARE real, and we actually did grow them over time. The very fact that our quartet is named for our beards allows us to maintain a grip upon our image. Even in the world of string quartet playing --- Earth's most civilized form of music-making --- image is everything!
And if you would like to leave us a friendly message or two, please do so by typing in blackbeardian@yahoo.com, pirate1_power@hotmail.com or blackwolfmmi@aol.com. Hearing from you would be most enjoyable!
While our concert hall is being re-constructed, we Longbeards invite you to check out the website of our friends, The Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra! Born out of a tragic funeral procession of Gypsy violinists, violists, cellists, clarinetists and cimbalon players, the BGSO continues to inspire the hearts of Gypsy fiddle fans the world over! We look forward to seeing the BGSO perform for the first time in the U.S.!
THE QUARTET OF THE LONGBEARDS and Quartet of the Longbeards characters are trademarks of EPE Holdings, Inc. TMs & (C) Copyright 1998 by EPE Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 1997 pirate1_power@hotmail.com