The premiere 1935 recording of Berg's 1926 work, performed by the Galimir String Quartet, composed of Felix Galimir on first violin, and his three sisters Adrienne, Renée and Marguerite on second violin, viola and cello respectively.
The quartet had previously coached the work with the composer in 1931, receiving Berg's enthusiastic endorsement upon playing the work, hitherto "generally considered incomprehensible and almost unplayable." The Galimirs were Viennese Jews, and their father Marco was involved in the Sephardic community in Vienna. The family escaped to the United States during the Holocaust. Felix Galimir later became an iconic teacher at Curtis.
