The Pascal Quartet was a French

string quartet 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 violinist ...

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 ...

which took shape during the early 1940s and emerged after World War II to become a leading representative of the French performance tradition. It was named after its founder, the viola player Léon Pascal, and was occasionally termed the Leon Pascal Quartet.

Personnel

Throughout its recording career during the 1940s and 1950s, the personnel comprised: 1st violin:

Jacques Dumont Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

2nd violin: Maurice Crut viola: Léon Pascal violoncello: Robert Salles

Origins

During the 1930s Léon Pascal occupied the viola desk in the celebrated

Calvet Quartet Étienne André Joseph Calvet (8 October 1897 – 3 May 1984 ) was a famous French classical violinist. In 1919 he founded the celebrated Calvet Quartet. Calvet died in the 17th arrondissement of Paris at age 86. Biography ;Musical studies ...

, with

Joseph Calvet Étienne André Joseph Calvet (8 October 1897 – 3 May 1984 ) was a famous French classical violinist. In 1919 he founded the celebrated Calvet Quartet. Calvet died in the 17th arrondissement of Paris at age 86. Biography ;Musical studies ...

, Daniel Guilevitch (i.e.

Daniel Guilet Daniel Guilet (born ''Daniel Guilevitch'', Russian: russian: Даниил Гилевич, January 10, 1899 – October 14, 1990) was a French, and later, American, classical violinist, best known for being a founding member of the Beaux Arts ...

of the Beaux Arts Trio) and Paul Mas (cello). Pascal appears in the 1931-1938 recordings made by that ensemble. The recordings of the Pascal Quartet begin before 1945. The quality of the soloists with whom they recorded attest to the standing of the Pascal Quartet. McNaught said of them that 'due praise would mean a further search for words.' ''Record Year 2'' (p. 47-48), on the other hand, found many faults with their Beethoven cycle, which others have admired intensely.

Recordings

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 ...

: Complete string quartets: variant arrangements: (a) Nixa 13 LPs CLP 1201-1213, Issued 1953: Includes op 2 no 3 C major (arrangement of pno sonata) coupled with op 18 no 1 (CLP 1201); Op 18 2 & 3 (CLP 1202); op 18 4 & 5 (CLP 1203); op 18 no 6 & op 95 (CLP 1204); op 59, 1, 2 & 3 (CLP 1205-1207); op 74, (CLP 1208); op 127, 130 & 131 (CLP 1209-1211); op 133 & op 135 (CLP 1212); op 132 (CLP 1213).
(b) The Classics Record Library (a division of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc.), on 10 LPs, released in 1957. Includes op 18 nos 1-6 (MAQ 3331-3333); Quartets nos 7-11 (MBQ 4441-4443); Quartets 12-16 and Grosse Fuge (MCQ 5551-5554).
(c)

Concert Hall Society Concert Hall Society, Inc., was a New York City-based membership-subscription-oriented record production and distribution company founded in 1946 by Samuel Mulik Josefowitz (1921–2015) and David Josefowitz (1918–2015), brothers. The New York o ...

label, 10 LPs "Recorded in France": Includes op 18 1-6 (M (or MMSD) 2041-2043); op 59 1-3 (M 2044-2045); op 74 & op 95 (M 2046); op 127 & op 135 (M 2047); op 130 & Grosse Fuge op 133 (M 2048); op 131 and op 132 (M 2049 & 2050). *Beethoven: Three Quartets for Piano and Strings, WoO 36 (Says Opus 152 on the recording), with Artur Balsam (International Recorded Music Society, Inc. LP IRMS-1215:

M 2054). *Beethoven: Quartet op 8 no 3. (1944) *Beethoven: Quintets op 29 and op 104, with

Walter Gerhard Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born ...

. (Nixa LP CLP 1214) (1953) *

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 op 76 no 2. (1948) *

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

: Die Kunst der Fuge, Contrapunctus no 1. (1949) *

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, with

Jeanne-Marie Darré Jeanne-Marie Darré (30 July 190526 January 1999) was a French classical pianist. She was known for her lyrical and elegant''88 notes pour piano solo'', Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Neva Editions, 2015, p.91. interpretations of the solo works of Chopin ...

(1952) (Pathé DTX 123) * Saint-Saëns: Septet, with J-M Darré, Delmotte, Loguereau, cond. Fourestier (Pathé DTX 252) *

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

: String Quintets op 18 no. 1 and op 87 no. 2, with Walter Gerhard (

CHS 1172) *

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 ...

: Quintets, with Walter Gerhard (Monitor MCS 2111) *

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

String quartet (Bertelsmann 8132, 10" LP) * Casadesus: Nonet for piano, string quartet and wind, with Robert Casadesus and wind quartet (LP Columbia ML5448) * Fauré: Piano Quintet no 2 in C minor op 115, with Ray Lev (piano). (1950) (

LP CHS1093, Nixa LP CLP 1093) *

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 A Minor op. 29 (early 1950s?) (The Musical Masterpiece Society MMS-83, 10" LP) *Schubert: Trout Quintet, with

Vlado Perlemuter Vladislas "Vlado" Perlemuter (26 May 1904 – 4 September 2002) was a Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher. Biography Vladislas (Vlado) Perlemuter was born to a Polish Jewish family, the third of four sons, in Kovno, Russia (now Kaunas in ...

and

Hans Fryba Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

(double-bass). (

LP AM 2203) * Chausson: Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet, with Louis Kaufman and Arthur Balsam (c.1949-1952, on Nixa LP). *Chausson: Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet, with

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

and

Louis Kentner Louis Philip Kentner (19 July 190523 September 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire. Life and career He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin in Austrian ...

. (1955) *

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 ...

: '' Introduction and Allegro'', with Lily Laskine (harp),

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." Biography Ea ...

(flute) and

Ulysse Delecluse Ulysse, the French spelling of Ulysses, is a masculine French given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ulysse Adjagba (born 1993), French basketball player *Ulysse Bozonnet (1922–2014), French ski mountaineer *Ulysse Chevalier (1841–1 ...

(clarinet). (1955) *

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. (?c1948) (Dumont and Pascal also appear in the Prokofiev Quintet for wind and strings, op 39, with M Goetgluck (oboe), Ulysse Delecluse (clar) and M. Boussagol (double-bass) (NIXA LP PLP 512). (c1953)).
The Debussy and Fauré recordings have been reissued recently on the Pristine Audio label, remastered from LP disc sources by Peter Harrison.

Sources

* R.D. Darrell, ''Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music'' (New York 1936). * W. McNaught, Gramophone Notes, ''Musical Times'' vol 90 no 1277 (July 1949), 233-235. * D. Ellmann, ''Notes'' to CD Teldec 28413-2 (Calvet Quartet reissue). * D. Shawe-Taylor and Sackville-West, ''The Record Year 2'' (Collins, London 1953). {{authority control French string quartets