Founded in 1984, the quartet derives its name from the Russian Ambassador in Vienna in the early 19th Century. As an amateur violinist Count Andrey Kyrillovich Rasumovsky was sufficiently skilled to persuade Haydn to coach his house quartet. He commissioned Beethoven to write a set of three quartets, which appeared as op.59 in 1806. These masterly works, so much in advance of their time both in concept and technical difficulty, may well have proved too hard for the dedicatee to play, but their reputation has kept Rasumovsky's name before music lovers ever since.

It follows that establishing all Beethoven's 17 Quartets in performance was an early priority for this ensemble, but the large repertoire of the last twenty years covers a wide range – from contemporary British quartets to early classics played with transitional bows and gut strings.