Capet Quartet

Henri Casadesus, Lucien Capet, , Maurice Hewitt (l. to r.)

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.

Personnel[]

The personnel of the Capet Quartet (other than the leader, Lucien Capet) 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 and , uncles of the celebrated pianist Robert Casadesus, played viola and cello within the group, which often rehearsed at the Casadesus household.^[1]

In 1903, it had become:^[2]

1st violin: Lucien Capet
2nd violin:
viola: Louis Bailly
violoncello: Louis Hasselmans

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:
cello:

Origins[]

Lucien Capet (b. Paris, 1873) had been a pupil of Morin at the Paris Conservatoire, and appeared as a soloist very widely, especially with the Concerts Lamoureux. 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. Louis Hasselmans (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. 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: 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: Quartet in C major K 465 (Col., L 2290-93).
• Schumann: Quartet in A minor op 41 no 1 (Col., L 2329-31).
• Debussy: Quartet in G minor op 10 (1893) (Col., D 15085-8).
• Franck: Quintet in F minor, with Marcel Ciampi (pno) (Col., D 15102-6).
• Haydn: Quartet in D major op 64 no 5 'Lark' (Col., D 13070-2).
• Ravel: Quartet in F major (Col., D 15057-60).
• Schubert: 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 dates
• Quatuor Capet - Lucien Capet on YouTube