The Busch recorded nine of Beethoven's 16 string quartets for HMV and American Columbia during the 1930s and early 1940s. (Adolf Busch was also involved in a recording of the Grosse Fuge, but as leader of the Busch Chamber Orchestra.) Though other eminent quartet groups recorded Beethoven during this period, none rivalled the Busch's reputation for getting to the heart of Beethoven's inspiration. They were pioneers in that they abandoned old-fashioned romantic conceptions of the music as purveyed, for example, by the Lener Quartet, in favour of a more classical approach, although they still maintained firm links with the nineteenth century in the sense that their music-making had old-world stability and confidence.
Their interpretations were of such enduring quality that even as late as 1955 the influential Record Guide (Collins) lamented the non-availability of good modern versions to compare with the older performances. It was only a few years later that such groups as the Hungarian Quartet managed to fill the void. In these circumstances it is a little surprising to find that there are so few Busch Quartet recordings listed in the current Classical Catalogue, and so Preiser's new issue can be wholeheartedly welcomed. The transfers are good, but it is a little disappointing to find such brief insert-notes and generally poor documentation accompanying a full-price reissue.
I see no point in going through the performances one by one, since anyone can take a few bars at random and find playing which is a model of style and full of insight. Communication is on a high level throughout, and expression is conveyed in such a fashion that the head balances the heart. The music-making is contemplative and serene in more inward passages, while full of vigour where strength is required. Technically the playing is on a high level, and there is an absolute sense of rightness in the way each work is unfolded. There are other ways of looking at Beethoven's quartets, of course, but when you listen to the Busch they always seem for the moment to have found the true and only path.'