Unlike many French chamber works of its era, Louis Thirion's String Quartet does not use cyclic form, instead giving each movement its own distinct material.
Performer Biography
Solenne Païdassi, the violinist on this album, plays a 1779 violin by Lorenzo Storioni, on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben Foundation.
Composer Biography
Louis Thirion, a French composer, spent his entire career in Nancy, a choice that isolated his work from the Parisian-centric French intellectual life.
Composer Biography
After losing his wife in 1920 and being deeply affected by the war, Louis Thirion ended his creative career before the age of forty to focus solely on teaching.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite his traditional forms, Louis Thirion had a keen interest in contemporary music, admiring Igor Stravinsky and post-1945 avant-garde movements.
Composition History
Louis Thirion's house and all his musical manuscripts were destroyed during violent combats in Baccarat on August 24, 1914, during World War I.
Historical Context
Nancy, where Louis Thirion lived and worked, experienced an artistic boom and became a cradle of Art Nouveau in France after the Franco-Prussian War.
