Origins and activities
The quartet took its name from the leader, the violinist Robert Krettly (b. 1891), who was the brother of the cellist Odette Krettly (one of the teachers of Pierre Fournier (1906–1986)).
Robert Krettly took part in the premiere of the Gabriel Fauré Pianoforte Trio in D minor op 120, in Paris on May 12, 1923, with Jacques Patté (cello) and Tatiana Sanzévitch (piano). [1] The quartet was in existence in March 1925, with Fournier as its cellist aged 19, when they premiered the string quartet by Catherine Murphy Urner at the Salle Pleyel, Paris. [2] This formation therefore preceded the appearance of Robert Krettly as second violin, with Jacques Thibaud (1st violin), Maurice Vieux (1884–1951) (viola) and André Hekking (cello), [3] in the premiere of the Gabriel Fauré string quartet (in E minor, op 121) at the Société Nationale de Musique in Paris on 12 June 1925. [4] Fournier had also studied with André Hekking, and with Lucien Capet.
In 1929 Andre Navarra (1911–1988) replaced Pierre Fournier as cellist, [5] and by 1931 François Broos had replaced Georges Taine at the viola desk. Navarra made his debut as a soloist in 1931, at the Concerts Colonne in Paris. Both Navarra and René Costard retired from the group in 1935, and in that year Costard established the French branch of Foldex maps. [6]
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Pierre Léon Marie Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound.
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The Élégie (Elegy), Op. 24, was written by the French composer Gabriel Fauré in 1880, and first published and performed in public in 1883. Originally for cello and piano, the piece was later orchestrated by Fauré. The work features a sad and somber opening and climaxes with an intense, tempestuous central section before returning to the elegiac opening theme in C minor.
Gérard Hekking was a French cellist.
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The Capet String Quartet was a French musical ensemble founded in 1893, which remained in existence until 1928 or later. It made a number of recordings and was considered one of the leading string quartets of its time.
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Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 2, in G minor, Op. 45, is one of the two chamber works he wrote for the conventional piano quartet combination of piano, violin, viola and cello. It was first performed in 1887, seven years after his first quartet.
Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 115, is the second of his two works in the genre and his last four-movement chamber work. Dedicated to Paul Dukas, the quintet was given its premiere in Paris at a concert of the Société nationale de musique on 21 May 1921. It was an immediate success and has always been more popular than the First Quintet, completed sixteen years earlier.
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Étienne André Joseph Calvet was a famous French classical violinist.
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