Frederick and Alice Slee: Musical Benefactors Curated by John Bewley

The Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle

The Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle is one of the longest-running concert traditions in Buffalo. It was inaugurated by the Budapest Quartet in 1955 and has continued to the present with performances by some of the finest string quartet ensembles in the world. It is very likely the only concert series in the world to present the cycle of Beethoven string quartets on an annual basis.

The series was established by the estate of Frederick Caldecott Slee (1870-1954). Following the instructions in Mr. Slee’s will, Mrs. Alice Slee (1875-1956) set up a bequest at the University of Buffalo to fund an annual cycle of six concerts of all the Beethoven string quartets. The bequest also stipulates the order in which the quartets are to be performed. A November 12, 1954 Buffalo Evening News article about the estate of Frederick Caldecott Slee disclosed the financial details concerning the establishment of the Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle and the Slee Professorship in the Music Department at the University of Buffalo. (Click on image to see entire article.)

Budapest String Quartet: Joseph Roisman, Alexander Schneider, violins; Boris Kroyt, viola; Mischa Schneider, violoncello
	The first cycle of Beethoven quartets was performed by the Budapest String Quartet beginning in September 1955. The ensemble remained the Slee Quartet-in-Residence until 1965 and served on the faculty of the Music Department. The quartet was also a significant participant in the concerts of the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, performing forty-five times 1931-1965. The Society would have completely cancelled the concert season of 1934-35 due to a lack of the financial means to pay performers. The Budapest Quartet waived its usual fee to give the only performance for the Society that season.
Unidentified photographer.

University of Buffalo Treasurer Claude E. Puffer wrote to Mrs. Alice Slee on September 20, 1955 thanking her for the $4800 check she provided to pay the Budapest String Quartet for the performance of the first cycle of Beethoven string quartet concerts in 1955-56. (Click on text of letter below to see entire letter.)	Photograph by Leon Freres

The following quote is from John Dwyer's January 24, 1976 article in the Buffalo Evening News. It was written in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle. The quartet in residence that year was the Cleveland Quartet. Dwyer's remarks are just as appropriate today as when they were written. (Click on image to see entire article.)

Since the series began in 1955, forty-seven different ensembles have performed either part or all of the Beethoven string quartet cycles. Among those ensembles are some of the foremost string quartets in the world. The following is a chronologically arranged list of all the quartets that have participated in the series.

October 2005 Music Library Staff musique@acsu.buffalo.edu http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/exhibits/slee/sleecycle.html