The Parrenin Quartet is a French
chamber music ensemble for two
violons,
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
and
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
.
History
Created in 1944, it was the resident quartet of
radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg).
The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
until 1949. Its extensive repertoire extends from quartets by
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 led ...
to quartets by
Schönberg Schönberg (german: beautiful hill) may refer to:
Places Austria
*Schönberg im Stubaital, a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land, Tyrol
* Schönberg am Kamp, a town in the district of Krems-Land, Lower Austria
Belgium
* Schönber ...
and
Bartók. It has been a member of the
Domaine musical
The Domaine musical was a concert society established by Pierre Boulez in Paris, which was active from 1954 to 1973. Composers represented at its concerts included Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, John Cage, Sylvano B ...
and the International Music Ensemble of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
. It has premiered more than 150 works by contemporary authors (
Ligeti,
Maderna,
Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mon ...
,
Berio,
Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
,
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...
,
Ohana
is a Hawaiian term meaning "family" (in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional).
The term is cognate with Māori , meaning "nest".
The root word refers to the root or corm of the , or taro plant (the ...
,
Xenakis).
Members
* Jacques Parrenin,
Death notice
/ref> first violin
* Marcel Charpentier (1944-1970), Jacques Ghestem (1970-1980), John Cohen (1980-) second violin
* Serge Collot
Serge Collot (27 December 1923 – 11 August 2015) was a French violist and music educator.
Biography
Born in Paris, Collot studied viola at the Conservatoire de Paris with Maurice Vieux, chamber music with Joseph Calvet, and composition with ...
(1944-1957), Michel Walès (1957-1964), Denes Marton (1964-1970), Jean-Claude Dewaele (1970-1980), Gérard Caussé
Gérard Caussé (born 26 June 1948, Toulouse, France) is a French violist.
He gave the first performance of the celebrated '' Ainsi la nuit'' quartet by Henri Dutilleux. The first movement of Gérard Grisey's celebrated work, ''Les Espaces Acous ...
(1980-) viola
* Pierre Penassou (1944-1980), René Benedetti (1980-) cello
Selected discography
* Ravel's 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 ...
in F major EMI 1969
* Debussy's 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 ...
in G minor op.10 EMI 1976
References
Source
* Alain Pâris
Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist.
Biography
Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...
''Dictionnaire des interprètes'', series Bouquins, Éditions Robert Laffont
Éditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium.
It is considered one of the most ...
1989,
External links
Six quatuors à cordes / Bela Bartók, comp. Quatuor Parrenin
on Gallica
Discography
on Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Pierre Boulez, Livre pour quatuor, Parts I a and I b, Quatuor Parrenin
(YouTube)
{{portal bar, classical music, France
Parrenin
Musical groups established in 1944