The Beethoven Quartet (Russian: Струнный квартет имени Бетховена, Strunnyĭ kvartet imeni Betkhovena) was a string quartet founded between 1922 and 1923 by graduates of the Moscow Conservatory: violinists Dmitri Tsyganov and Vasily Shirinsky, violist Vadim Borisovsky and cellist Sergei Shirinsky (half brother of Vasily).
[2] From 1938, it collaborated closely with the composer Dmitri Shostakovich and premiered thirteen of his fifteen string quartets, Nos.
[3][4] Fyodor Druzhinin took over from Borisovsky in 1964, giving a runthrough of the ninth quartet with the rest of the group.
[2] Sergei Shirinsky died during rehearsals of Shostakovich's fifteenth quartet.
[5] In 1977, final founding member and first violinist Dmitri Tsyganov departed and was replaced by Oleh Krysa.