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The French Clarinet - 19th & 20th Century Music for Clarinet & Piano
Brilliant Classics

The French Clarinet - 19th & 20th Century Music for Clarinet & Piano

$15.29
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Details

Composer
Louis Cahuzac, Arthur Coquard, Claude Debussy, Arthur Honegger, Paul Jeanjean, Andre Messager, Paul
Artist
Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Jun 23, 2023
Catalog #
BRI96676
UPC
5028421966762

About

The developmental stages of the clarinet are marked by repeated interest in improving the instrument at crucial stages in its history, definitively accomplished in an ‘accelerated’ manner during the course of the 19th century thanks to daring projects that led to an extraordinary evolution. Consequently, interest in writing aimed at probing the peculiarities of the instrument was accentuated, with French composers' attention directed towards exploring the thousands of new expressive and technical possibilities, creating a catalogue of great interest demostrating both the instrumentalists’ mastery as well as musical effects to dazzle listeners. The pieces selected for this album clearly echo that production, originating in the shadow of the Parisian conservatoire and intended to test the potential of young performers while probing the musical languages of the time, whose aesthetics were as varied as eve. Coquard's Melodie et Scherzetto, from 1904, sprang from the pen as an examination piece, a score in which technical and expressive aspects converge with a highly captivating melodic writing. In Claude Debussy's Petite pièce, the varied dynamics, combined with the near ‘improvisational’ flow of the rhythmic-melodic material, make the piece fascinating and pleasant to listen to. As is Rabaud's Solo de Concours Op.10, with its surprising texture entrusted to the clarinet right from the start in the form of a solo of considerable complexity. Messager's own Solo de Concours is rich in captivating chromaticism riven by diatonic segments. Paul Pierné's score, on the other hand, is an exercise in style, blending ‘rhetorical’ images and ‘French-style’ speculations. His cousin Gabriel’s Canzonetta of 1888 brings forth a sampler of melodies, giving rise to a path of great lyricism. The use of such sonorous imagery is in common with that of Paul Jeanjean, whose Arabesques is imbued with seductive designs aimed at enhancing the potential of the instrument, on which he was an acclaimed virtuoso. Cahuzac belongs to this category, as well, and with his Cantilène he dwells in the soundscapes of his southern France, irradiating it with a Mediterranean luminosity. Cultural belonging is a peculiar characteristic of composers living in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, as Semler-Collery demonstrates when he pilots his Rêverie et scherzo through the turbulence of early-20th-century French style. Honegger's choice for his Sonatine has a completely different origin. With its mysterious beginning founded on skillful chromaticism with vague oriental echoes, the subsequent Lent et soutenu reveals a greater rigour in that same sound path, entrusted to the woodwind, austere and mysterious. It is with the Vif et rythmique that the “restlessness” is laid to rest in order to rely on “improvisational” sonorities that wink at agile and impertinent jazz gestures.

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 Petite pièce 01:30
    Track
    1
    Title
    Petite pièce
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Claude Debussy
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  2. 2 Canzonetta, Op. 19 03:49
    Track
    2
    Title
    Canzonetta, Op. 19
    Duration
    03:49
    Composer
    Gabriel Pierné
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  3. 3 Solo de Concours, Op. 10 05:40
    Track
    3
    Title
    Solo de Concours, Op. 10
    Duration
    05:40
    Composer
    Henri Rabaud
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  4. 4 Rêverie et Scherzo 06:38
    Track
    4
    Title
    Rêverie et Scherzo
    Duration
    06:38
    Composer
    Jules Semler-Collery
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  5. 5 I. Modéré 02:40
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Modéré
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Arthur Honegger
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  6. 6 II. Lent et soutenu 02:30
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Lent et soutenu
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Arthur Honegger
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  7. 7 III. Vif et rythmique 01:20
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Vif et rythmique
    Duration
    01:20
    Composer
    Arthur Honegger
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  8. 8 Mélodie et scherzetto, Op. 68 06:16
    Track
    8
    Title
    Mélodie et scherzetto, Op. 68
    Duration
    06:16
    Composer
    Arthur Coquard
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  9. 9 Andante-Scherzo 06:20
    Track
    9
    Title
    Andante-Scherzo
    Duration
    06:20
    Composer
    Paul Pierné
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  10. 10 Cantilene 05:09
    Track
    10
    Title
    Cantilene
    Duration
    05:09
    Composer
    Louis Cahuzac
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  11. 11 Arabesques 05:23
    Track
    11
    Title
    Arabesques
    Duration
    05:23
    Composer
    Paul Jeanjean
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto
  12. 12 Solo de concours 06:15
    Track
    12
    Title
    Solo de concours
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    André Messager
    Performer
    Aldo Botta, Clara Dutto