Joseph Calvet

Étienne André Joseph Calvet (8 October 1897 – 3 May 1984 [1]) was a famous French classical violinist.

Born in Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, Calvet began studying the violin at the Conservatoire of Toulouse, where he obtained a First Prize in 1904, then continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, and also obtained a First Prize in 1919.

In 1919, he created his string quartet with Georges Mignot (2nd violin), replaced by Daniel Guilevitch in 1929), Léon Pascal on viola and Paul Mas on cello.

This first formation was to end at the beginning of the Second World War with the departure of Daniel Guilevitch - who was Jewish - to the United States (where he was to adopt the name Daniel Guilet), and it was only at the end of the war that Joseph Calvet somehow resurrected the quartet with new partners: violinist Jean Champeil, violist Maurice Husson and cellist Manuel Recasens.

This new formation was a great success after the war, and created quartets of the French repertoire, notably that of Florent Schmitt in 1948,[3] as the previous formation had done with Guy Ropartz and Jean Françaix.