The Juilliard String Quartet has come to define the “American Sound” in string quartet and chamber repertoire. Since its inception in 1946, the Juilliard has been recognized for the boldness of its interpretation of the classics, with a tradition of championing the new. The group has played the world premieres of works by more than 60 American composers, as well as the American premieres of the six Bartók Quartets, Shostakovich's Quartet No. 15, and Dutilleux's "Ainsi la Nuit." These premiers are in addition to thousands of performances of the great classics of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms; the complete Beethoven cycles; and the Julliard’s own scoring of Bach's Art of the Fugue. The Quartet also specializes in rescuing underperformed masterworks from obscurity and in mentoring the very best young chamber musicians. The Juilliard has been the Quartet in Residence at the Library of Congress for more than four decades.