Müller

The Müller family, originally from Brunswick, gave rise to two successive string quartets that enjoyed a notable presence in nineteenth-century Germany. Their father, Aegidius Christoph Müller (Görsbach, 1765 – Brunswick, 1841), was a court musician to the Duke of Brunswick, and it was he who secretly taught his four sons, since as ducal employees they were forbidden to perform in public.

The first quartet consisted of four brothers. Karl Müller, the eldest, led the ensemble and was concertino at court until 1830, the year in which he and his brothers left ducal service. Georg Müller, second violin, had been Kapellmeister to the same duke; Gustav Müller played the viola, and Theodor Müller the cello. They made their debut in Hamburg in 1831 and, after performing in Berlin in 1832–1833, undertook numerous tours of Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Russia. Their principal repertoire comprised works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The ensemble disbanded on Gustav's death in 1855. Theodor, moreover, was for more than forty years a highly respected teacher in Brunswick, with pupils including Bernhard Cossmann, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, Robert Hausmann and his nephew Wilhelm Müller.

A second generation, made up of four of Karl's sons, founded another quartet shortly afterwards. Karl Müller-Berghaus directed the group; Hugo and Bernhard Müller played second violin and viola, and Wilhelm Müller the cello. They were appointed court musicians in Meiningen and toured France, Denmark and Russia. In 1866 they settled in Rostock, where Karl was appointed Kapellmeister. The quartet disbanded in 1873, when Wilhelm took up the post of solo cellist in the royal chapel in Berlin and began teaching at its Hochschule für Musik. Wilhelm was also a founding member of the Joachim Quartet (1869–1879). Despite the remarkable quality of their ensemble, the second quartet never attained the reputation of the first, partly because of an unfortunate choice of repertoire.

The Müller family left a lasting mark on the practice of the German string quartet, and their career illustrates how court musicians made their way into public concert life during the nineteenth century.