Jean Cras is a pretty remarkable figure and something of a renaissance man in the process. In addition to a long and distinguished career in the French Navy where he achieved the rank of Rear Admiral, he was also a scientist, inventor and philosopher and enjoyed great popularity as a composer during his lifetime. However, after his death in 1932, Jean Cras has been largely overlooked by both musicians and audiences and sadly, much of his work has been forgotten over the years.

Even though Cras is not a familiar name with most audiences, his chamber music has become the best known of all his work, in particular this piece, the Trio for Strings, which I'm featuring today.

This recording features the legendary Pasquier Trio (Jean, Pierre and Etienne) and was recorded by French Radio around 1953 (no exact dates, just guessing based on scribbled label dates).

As always, something interesting and adventuresome by way of scratchy shellac or vinyl. Just happens to turn out that way.