The Aeolian Quartet was a highly reputed string quartet based in London, England, with a long international touring history and presence, an important recording and broadcasting profile. It was the successor of the pre-World War II Stratton Quartet. The quartet adopted its new name in 1944 and disbanded in 1981.
The Stratton Quartet flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. George Stratton, the leader, found it increasingly difficult to lead the London Symphony Orchestra as well as the Stratton Quartet, and so the Aeolian came into being.
The Stratton Quartet performed under that name at the National Gallery frequently during the war. In 1944 the new name was adopted. Both Watson Forbes and John Moore, the violist and cellist, had been members of the Stratton Quartet. Max Salpeter (1908-2010) was previously in the Kutcher String Quartet and was leader of the original New London Orchestra.
The quartet participated in the May 1946 International Music Festival in Prague and the International Contemporary Music Festival in London, July 1946.
