The Pascal Quartet, a French string quartet ensemble, was founded in the early 1940s by viola player Léon Pascal. The group initially included Jacques Dumont on first violin, Maurice Crut on second violin, and Robert Salles on cello. After World War II, they emerged as leading representatives of the French performance tradition. Their recording career began before 1945, with notable collaborations including performances with Artur Balsam and Walter Gerhard. The quartet recorded extensively during the 1940s and 1950s, releasing works such as Beethoven's complete string quartets on various labels like Nixa and Concert Hall Society. They also performed pieces by composers like Haydn, Bach, Franck, Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Schubert, Chausson, Ravel, and Debussy. The Pascal Quartet was later called the RTF Pascal Quartet and the ORTF Quartet. Following Dumont's retirement, the group disbanded in 1973.
