Edward J. de Coppet, a New York banker, was the patron of this group. From 1886 to 1916 he produced over 1000 private concerts of chamber music. Finally, in 1903 he hired Betti, Pochon, Ara and d'Archambeau. The rules were austere: no other occupation but quartet playing, no students and, at first, no public concerts.
Flonzaley was the name of the patron's summer home near Lausanne, in Switzerland, where the quartet practised. The quartet first performed in New York, in private concerts, in 1904. From 1905 it gave public concerts in the United States and Europe. The three upper string members were former students of César Thomson in Brussels.
