The Krettly Quartet was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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 violinists ...

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, ...

active during the 1920s and 1930s. Its repertoire included avant-garde and modern works, and the group made early recordings of some of these.

Personnel

1st violin *Robert Krettly 2nd violin *René Costard (retired 1935) viola *Georges Taine (active 1925) *François Broos (active 1931-35) 'cello * Pierre Fournier (before 1929) *

André Navarra André-Nicolas Navarra (Biarritz, 13 October 1911 – Siena, 31 July 1988) was a French cellist and cello teacher. Early life He was born into a musical family in Biarritz, his father being a bassist of Italian descent."'Play From The Stomach, ...

(1929–1935)

Origins and activities

The quartet took its name from the leader, the violinist Robert Krettly (b. 1891), who was 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 Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

Pianoforte Trio in D minor op 120, in Paris on May 12, 1923, with Jacques Patté (cello) and Tatiana Sanzévitch (piano). 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 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. This formation therefore preceded the appearance of Robert Krettly as second violin, with Jacques Thibaud (1st violin),

Maurice Vieux Maurice Edgard Vieux (14 April 1884 in Savy-Berlette near Valenciennes – 28 April 1951 in Paris) was a French violist whose teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris plays a key role in the history of the viola in France. Vieux received his 1st Pr ...

(1884–1951) (viola) and

André Hekking André Hekking (20 July 186614 December 1925) was a French cellist. Born in Bordeaux, he studied with Charles Auguste de Bériot, touring Spain at fifteen. In 1909, he settled in Paris to become a teacher of the cello, having in the meantime gai ...

(cello), in the premiere of the Gabriel Fauré string quartet (in E minor, op 121) at the

Société Nationale de Musique Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

in Paris on 12 June 1925. Fournier had also studied with André Hekking, and with

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 ...

. In 1929 Andre Navarra (1911–1988) replaced Pierre Fournier as cellist, 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.

Recordings

The Krettly Quartet made some significant recordings before 1936, including principally:R.D. Darrell, ''Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music'' (New York 1936). *

, String Quartet in E minor op 121, *

Maurice 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 ...

, String Quartet in F major, *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

, String Quartet, * Darius Milhaud, String Quartet no 2 (Atonal), *

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...

, String Quartet no 3, Notturno *

Igor Strawinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

, Trois piéces pour quatuor a cordes

Notes and references

French string quartets {{France-band-stub