Known above all as an organist, Charles Tournemire wrote few chamber music works. His sole quartet dates from 1933. It comprises seven sections of which the musical construction is in constant evolution, ranging from rhythmic complexity to sparse simplicity. Like Tournemire, Ernest Chausson was greatly influenced by Franck who considered him one of his most gifted pupils. A great friend of Debussy and d'Indy, he left four chamber music works, including an unfinished quartet, his last work before his accidental death. Vincent d'Indy finished the third movement, which was already much advanced, but decided, out of respect, not to include the fourth movement, for which only sketches existed. Gabriel Fauré's only quartet, composed in 1923, was his last composition, and is considered a musical testament. Just before his death, he entrusted it to some friends and pupils, leaving it up to them to decided whether the work should be published or not. It was published, and it completes this record devoted to the French string quartet.
