Quatuor à cordes / String Quartet, Op. 121, No. 195

Gabriel Fauré's only string quartet, which was composed in 1923-24, is the composer's final work and was written at the suggestion of his publisher, Jacques Durand. Until then, Fauré had always put off writing a string quartet, evidently because of Beethoven's imposing shadow. When Fauré composed the quartet, he was already extremely ill. He added dynamics and slurs only in some parts of the exposition of the first movement and then asked his former pupil, Jean Roger-Ducasse, to complete the work. Roger-Ducasse's additions were, however, very extensive; he even altered and supplemented some of Fauré's own markings in the exposition. Bärenreiter's first-ever scholarly critical edition of the quartet utilizes all sources, including the composer's letters, which provide valuable insights into the origins of the composition. In particular, Fauré's penultimate work, the Piano Trio op. 120, was used to guide the editor with his emendations.