Manuscripts of Transylvanian string quartets from the 19th century

The 19th century was a period of remarkable development in the classical music scene of Transylvania, a region on the periphery of Europe. Its capital, Kolozsvár (previously known as Klausenburg, now known as Cluj-Napoca), was considered the last bastion of Western musical culture. This era saw the establishment, consolidation, and development of the musical landscape that persists to this day, complete with its institutions such as societies, conservatories, musical theatres, concert venues, as well as unique national color, prominent leading artistic figures, and the development of a local national school. The democratization of art during this period led to the popularity of chamber music genres, particularly string ensembles, during the Biedermeier and Romantic periods. Local Transylvanian composers, including the Viennese-born artist Georg Ruzitska and Hungarian  composer Ödön Farkas, made significant contributions to the genre, each producing an impressive set of string quartets. Three of Ruzitska’s Biedermeier works, quartets in B major, D minor, and F major, remained in manuscript form, with only the last of the set, the G major quartet, being published later in the 20th century. Similarly, Farkas’s five post-Romantic quartets (in C minor, D minor, A minor, A major, and D major) also remained in manuscript form. In both cases, the interpretation of these works was confined to the smaller circles of local, contemporary artists, and until the present moment they never made it into the wider string chamber musicrepertoire. 

Present study aims to revisit and introduce these 19th-century Transylvanian quartets to the public. It seeks to highlight their role, antecedents, and completion in the composers’ oeuvre and to define their style and localism.