Debussy - String quartet

String quartet by Claude Debussy for 2 violins, viola and cello

Edited by Ulrich Krämer

At the time of its creation in Paris in December 1893 by the famous Ysa Que Quartet, Debussy's new Quartet was received only coldly. The critics were disturbed by the unusual harmonies and orchestral sounds, and the musicians to whom the Quartet was subsequently proposed held him simply "unplayable." The work was able to win in the years that followed and now belongs to the repertoire of chamber music. When it was published in 1894, it was entitled "First Quartet," which suggested that the composer had at that time the intention of composing at least one other - a promise he could not keep.