String Quartet No. 3 (Tchaikovsky) String Quartet No. 3 (Tchaikovsky) The String Quartet No. 3 in E minor, Op. 30, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was composed in 1876, and is the last of his three String Quartets. It was written as a memorial for Ferdinand Laub. (The date upon the manuscript is early February 1876.) The quartet was performed for the first time at a party at Nikolai Rubinstein's apartment on March 2, 1876. The first public performance was at a concert on 30 March (new style/March 18 (old style), the performers being: Jan Hřímalý and Adolph Brodsky, violins; Yuly Gerber, viola; and Wilhelm Fitzenhagen,
Vaghy String Quartet and Avery Fisher Hall as well as many others halls, and on radio (such as CBC Radio) and television. The quartet also performed live and on recording throughout Europe, as well as at the 1976 Summer Olympics, premiering several works. Their repertoire included Bartók, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Ravel, and Janáček, among other 20th-century composers. The quartet premiered several works as well: John Fodi's Quartet for Strings 'Ch'ien' and Paul Crawford's String Quartet: 'La nuit étoilée' in 1974; James Montgomery's Reconnaissance in 1975; Graham George's Fuguing Music for String Quartet, James Kent's Cadenza String Quartet, and Norman Sherman's Quadron in 1976; William