The Capet String Quartet was a French

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists ...

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 The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

of its time.

Personnel

The personnel of the Capet Quartet (other than the leader,

Lucien Capet Lucien Louis Capet (8 January 1873 – 18 December 1928) was a French violinist, pedagogue and composer. Career Capet came from the Paris proletariat. By the age of fifteen, he had to maintain himself by playing in bistros and cafes. He studied ...

) changed fairly often, and are reported differently in variant sources. The original line-up appears to have included a player named Giron, and during the first decade

Henri Casadesus Henri-Gustave Casadesus (30 September 1879, Paris – 31 May 1947, Paris) was a violist, viola d'amore player, composer, and music publisher. Early life Casadesus received his early musical instruction with Albert Lavignac and studied viola wi ...

and Marcel Casadesus, uncles of the celebrated pianist

Robert Casadesus Robert Marcel Casadesus (7 April 1899 – 19 September 1972) was a renowned 20th-century French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a distinguished musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus ...

, played viola and cello within the group, which often rehearsed at the Casadesus household. In 1903, it had become:Capet Quartet Photo with newer members
/ref> 1st violin:

2nd violin: André Touret
viola: Louis Bailly
violoncello:

Louis Hasselmans Louis Hasselmans (25 July 1878 – 27 December 1957) was a French cellist and conductor. Biography The son of harpist Alphonse Hasselmans, Louis Hasselmans studied the cello with Jules Desart at the Conservatoire de Paris. He obtained a Fir ...

By 1910 the team was established which survived into the 1920s to make the well-known recordings: 1st violin: Lucien Capet
2nd violin: Maurice Hewitt
viola: Henri Benoît
cello: Camille Delobelle

Origins

Lucien Capet (b. Paris, 1873) had been a pupil of Morin at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, and appeared as a soloist very widely, especially with the Concerts

Lamoureux Lamoureux is a surname of French origin. People with the name include: *Abraham-César Lamoureux (c. 1640–1692), sculptor who worked in Sweden and Denmark * Claude Lamoureux (c. 1650–after 1699), sculptor in Sweden and Denmark; younger brother o ...

. He taught at the Bordeaux Conservatoire from 1899 to 1903 and from 1907 in Paris, wrote three string quartets, and a work on the art of bowing.

(b. Paris 1878) took first prize in the Paris Conservatoire in 1893, became cellist with the Concerts Lamoureux, and was also a conductor: he later became attached to the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienn ...

. In 1924 it was said that the quartet devoted itself mainly to the performance of the Beethoven repertoire, but dedicated a few performances each year to modern music.

Recordings

(Made c.1925-1930) *

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

: Quartet in A major op 18 no 5 (Columbia Records, D 1659-62). * Beethoven: Quartet in F major op 59 no 1 (Col. D 15065-70). * Beethoven: Quartet in E flat major 'Harp', op 74 (Col., L 2248-51). * Beethoven: Quartet in C sharp minor, op 131 (Col., L 2283-87). * Beethoven: Quartet in A minor, op 132 (Col., L 2272-76). *

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: Quartet in C major K 465 (Col., L 2290-93). *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

: Quartet in A minor op 41 no 1 (Col., L 2329-31). *

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

: Quartet in G minor op 10 (1893) (Col., D 15085-8). *

Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also

* Franc (disambiguation) * Franks * Frank (disambiguation) * Fran ...

: Quintet in F minor, with

Marcel Ciampi Marcel Paul Maximin Ciampi (29 May 1891 – 2 September 1980) was a French pianist and teacher. He held the longest tenure in the history of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and also became head of piano classes at the ...

(pno) (Col., D 15102-6). *

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

: Quartet in D major op 64 no 5 'Lark' (Col., D 13070-2). *

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

: Quartet in F major (Col., D 15057-60). *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: Quartet in D minor 'Death and the Maiden' (Col. D 15053-6).

Sources

* A. Eaglefield-Hull, ''A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians'' (Dent, London 1924). * L. Capet, ''Technique de l'Archet''. * R.D. Darrell, ''The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music'' (New York, 1936).

References

External links

Website listing quartets with datesQuatuor Capet - Lucien Capet
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capet Quartet Musical groups established in 1893 French string quartets 1893 establishments in France