A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Müller, The Brothers
MÜLLER, the brothers, celebrated quartet-players, four sons of the Duke of Brunswick's Hofmusikus, Aegidius Christoph Müller, [App. p.722 "date of birth, July 2, 1766"] who died Aug. 14, 1841, at Brunswick, where all his sons were born. The brothers were Karl Friedrich, 1st violin and concertmeister to the Duke, born Nov. 11, 1797, died April 4, 1873; Theodor Heinrich Gustav, viola, born Dec. 3, 1799, died Sept. 7, 1855; August Theodor, cello, born Sept 27, 1802, died Oct. 20, 1875; Franz Ferdinand Georg, 2nd violin and Capellmeister to the Duke, born July 29, 1808, died May 22, 1855. Educated by their father expressly with a view to quartet-playing, they brought the art to a perfection then unknown. The Duke of Brunswick's somewhat tyrannical regulation, by which none of his musicians were allowed to take any part in the music of the town, obliged them to prepare in secret for appearing in public, and in 1830 they sent in their resignations. They gave concerts at Hamburg in 1831, and in 1832 at Berlin, where the public gradually learned to appreciate their wonderful ensemble. In 1833 they left Berlin, and visited in turn all the principal cities of Germany and Paris, extending their tours farther and farther, till 1845, when they went to Russia. Their repertoire consisted almost entirely of the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and they thus contributed immensely to the spread of a taste for really good music. Their rendering of Haydn's 'Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser' especially had a world-wide reputation.
The eldest brother, Karl Friedrich, also had four sons, known as the younger Müller brothers: Bernhard, viola, born Feb. 24, 1825; Karl, 1st violin, born April 14, 1829; Hugo, 2nd violin, born Sept. 21, 1832; and Wilhelm, cello, the most important, born June 1, 1834. They were court quartet-players to the Duke of Meiningen, and also made extended tours, visiting Russia, Denmark, and France. In 1866 they settled for a short time in Wiesbaden, and then at Rostock, where Karl became Capellmeister, his place in the quartet being supplied when travelling by Leopold Auer. It was however broken up entirely in 1873, by the appointment of Wilhelm as Kammermusikus, and teacher at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. The younger Müllers, though distinguished for their ensemble, did not reach the standard of perfection maintained by the elder brothers; the chief reason being that instead of restricting themselves to genuine quartets, they played music which, though good of its kind, was in reality more suited to a small orchestra.