Franck & Debussy

- In the 'old days' of the LP, the fabulous Quartet by César Franck with around 44 minutes of music, was too long for one LP side and too short for two sides and it was also very difficult to find a suitable fill-up. In this CD era, however, both these problems can be solved a lot easier, much to the benefit of the chamber music lovers, as is shown with this release.

- The usual combination (also an inheritance from the LP) is to combine the Debussy Quartet with that by Ravel, notwithstanding the fact that the only thing these works have in common is the fact that they are both by French composers. In fact, the musical style and world of Debussy and Ravel are miles apart, while those of Franck and Debussy are in this case much closer.

- Franck applied to his Quartet (of which not very many modern recordings exist in the present-day catalogues) his famous cyclic principle, which he also employed in his Quintet and in his even better-known Symphony in d minor. Debussy was highly influenced by Franck when he wrote his only String Quartet also in the cyclic form which he inherited from Franck.

The Raphael Quartet consists of four string players from the first desks of various orchestras of the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation. In the summer of 1981 they banded together to form a string Quartet which they named after the great Italian sculptor, painter and architect Raphael. The repertoire of the Raphael Quartet, which became the official String Quartet of the Dutch radio network in 1983, ranges from Haydn to Shostakovich. Appearances all over the world have led to great public and critical acclaim and their Globe debut CD (GLO 5013 - Mendelssohn String Quartets) has met with great succes.