Musique lyrique pour cor et piano
Claudio Flückiger (horn and natural horn)
Galya Kolarova (piano)
rec. Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen, Denmark; dates not given
DANACORD DACOCD909 [72]
This exploration of French and Belgian horn and piano music opens with Eugène Bozza’s Sur les cimes. For a work penned in 1960, there is no mid-20th century French avant-garde. Perhaps Ravel and composers such as Dutilleux and Jolivet are called to mind. The work appeals to me only in parts. There are moments of extreme beauty and, I must confess, times when I feel that Bozza has switched off. Here and there a touch too much of the hunting horn pervades this music. The liner notes suggest that this “can be thought of as a virtuosos Alpine Symphony […] a climb through the beauty of nature and thunderstorms towards the peaks (cimes)”.
Camille Saint-Saëns’s Romance in E major, completed in 1866 but only released in 1885, was written for horn player Henri Garigue. The Romance in F major from 1874 was dedicated to Henri Chaussier. Both pieces were scored for the natural horn. Despite the undoubted virtuosity of these legendary French instrumentalists, the works do not require technical prowess. In fact, they are songs without words, designed to entertain rather than impress.
Paul Dukas may be known to many for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice but the cognoscenti will revel in his opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, the charming and colourful Symphony in C and the accomplished Piano Sonata in E flat minor. I have not heard his Villanelle before; I understand that it is popular with soloists and audiences alike. It was composed as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire. This was the final year when horn players had to prove their mettle on both natural and valve instruments. Dukas demands that the opening section along with its recapitulation is played “without valves”. I am not sure if he meant that two different instruments were to be used.
I could find little information about Henri Büsser’s Cantecor. This was seemingly a test piece devised for the Conservatoire. It was less than successful. Contestants made it appear more difficult than it was, and they often failed to find the poetry or the lyricism of the music (John Humphries, liner notes for a disc reviewed here). There are no problems in this performance. The players present the piece as a seductive duet that captures the imagination. There is nothing pedantic here.
Fantasie-Légende by the Spanish composer Blai Maria Colomer explores a variety of problems of horn articulation, and majors on dreamlike lyricism. This complex work clearly asks both performers for a most elevated level of engagement.
Composer, teacher and musicologist Charles Koechlin was a pupil of Gabriel Fauré, a friend to Maurice Ravel, and teacher of Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. Much loved and venerated , he was a major figure striding over much of 20th century French musical endeavour. His Horn Sonata was written intermittently between 1918 and 1925. It explores various emotions, from impressionistic forest murmurs to the huntsman’s chase, and supposedly echoes of the sea in the finale. It is melodically curious and harmonically vibrant from end to end. It gets a satisfying performance here.
Equally important is the Sonata by the Belgian composer Jane Vignery. Despite certain nods towards impressionism in the opening movement and towards Francis Poulenc in the finale, this is a wholly original composition. The slow movement is a well stated, if somewhat melancholy, song in three parts. The finale is a light-hearted rondo, with various amusing turns of phrase. The piano is an equal partner, with an exceedingly multifaceted and involved contribution.
The liner notes give a basic introduction to this music. To be sure, there is a brief essay on the two rival systems of horn intonation, natural and valve. Details of the performers are included. The commentary on each piece is minimal, and there is no date of the recording.
The performances have a tremendous amount to recommend them, and an excellent recording helps. My suggestion is to explore the programme slowly. Too much horn tone may become a little wearing to any but the most enthusiastic. This is a rewarding discovery of works which should belong in the repertoire of all horn players.
John France
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Contents
Eugène Bozza (1905-1991)
Sur les cimes (1960)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Romance in E major, op. 67 (1866)
Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
Villanelle (1906)
Camille Saint-Saëns
Romance in F major, op. 36 (1874)
Jane Vignery (1913-1974)
Sonata, op.7 (1942)
Blai Maria Colomer (1840-1917)
Fantasie-Légende (1904)
Paul Henri Büsser (1872-1973)
Cantecor (1926)
Charles Koechlin (1867-1950)
Horn Sonata, op. 70 (1918-1925)
