Quatuor Métamorphoses perform Germaine Tailleferre’s only string quartet. The members are Mathilde Potier & Rachel Sintzel, violins, Jean-Baptiste Souchon, viola and Alice Picaud, cello.

Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) was a French composer that had a musical career spanning over six decades. Initially studying piano with her mother, she went on to study music at the Paris Conservatoire against the wishes of her father, who deemed musical activities were not suitable for a young woman. At the Conservatoire, she met fellow composers Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. Together, they formed ‘Les Six’, united by their musical reactions against impressionism and Wagnerism.

The string quartet was completed in 1919 and was dedicated to Arthur Rubenstein.

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