DREAMS & DARING: WIND, PIANO & HARP

Connesson composed Techno Parade, a trio for flute, clarinet and piano, in 2002 and it was first performed at the Château de l’Empéri in Salon-de-Provence on 3 August 2002 by its three dedicatees: Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Paul Meyer (clarinet) and Eric Le Sage (piano). Connesson has described the work as ‘a single movement, with a continuous pulse from start to finish. Two motifs swirl and collide, giving the piece a festive and restless character. The howls of the clarinet and the obsessive repetitions of the piano seek to rediscover the brutal energy of techno music.’ The central part of the piece requires the pianist to use a brush and sheets of paper to produce unusual percussive effects, and after this section the instruments are, as Connesson himself puts it, ‘drawn into a rhythmic trance which ends the piece at the frenetic tempo.’ 

© Nigel Simeone

Pastorale 
Interlude 
Finale 
 

Debussy originally planned a set of six instrumental sonatas but only lived to complete three of them. The first was for cello and piano (August 1915), the third for violin and piano (finished in April 1917), but in terms of instrumentation the most unusual of the three was the second sonata, scored for flute, viola and harp. Debussy completed it in October 1915 at the end of a productive summer spent on the Normandy coast, and the first performance took place on 7 November in Boston, Massachusetts. Debussy heard the work for the first time a month later, on 10 December, when it was given in Paris at one of the concerts put on by his publisher Durand. The viola part was played on that occasion by Darius Milhaud. 

The work was inspired by the clarity and elegant proportions of French Baroque music, but the musical language is very much of its own time. The ethereal Pastorale is based on fragmentary but distinctive musical ideas, while the central Interlude, delicately coloured in places by whole-tone harmonies, is marked ‘Tempo di minuetto’ – the most obvious nod to the Baroque. The finale is directed to be played ‘Allegro moderato ma risoluto’ and the muscular quality of the ideas presented at the start dominate the movement. There’s a brief recollection of the ‘Pastorale’ before a short, exultant coda. 

© Nigel Simeone 

At the start of the 20th century the rivalry between harp manufacturers in Paris resulted in two major works being composed for the instrument. Debussy wrote his Danse sacré et danse profane for Pleyel’s new chromatic harp in 1904, and Ravel was commissioned to produce a piece for Erard’s double-action pedal harp the next year – Introduction et Allegro. He wrote it quickly, completing it in June 1905 with a dedication to Albert Blondel, the director of the Erard company. It was one of the few works that Ravel himself recorded, directing an ensemble led by the harpist Gwendolen Mason for the Columbia record company during a visit to London in 1923 who had previously performed the work under Ravel’s direction at the Wigmore Hall in 1913 (when it was still called the Bechstein Hall). 

The dream-like Introduction opens with a slow-motion version of the theme that later dominates the Allegro, but part of the magic of this opening derives from Ravel’s handling of the instruments, producing colours and effects of stunning beauty and richness. The exquisitely crafted Allegro that follows is in sonata form and it is no less imaginative in terms of its exploration of ravishing instrumental effects, culminating in a dazzling coda. 

At the start of the 20th century the rivalry between harp manufacturers in Paris resulted in two major works being composed for the instrument. Debussy wrote his Danse sacré et danse profane for Pleyel’s new chromatic harp in 1904, and Ravel was commissioned to produce a piece for Erard’s double-action pedal harp the next year – Introduction et Allegro. He wrote it quickly, completing it in June 1905 with a dedication to Albert Blondel, the director of the Erard company. It was one of the few works that Ravel himself recorded, directing an ensemble led by the harpist Gwendolen Mason for the Columbia record company during a visit to London in 1923 who had previously performed the work under Ravel’s direction at the Wigmore Hall in 1913 (when it was still called the Bechstein Hall). 

The dream-like Introduction opens with a slow-motion version of the theme that later dominates the Allegro, but part of the magic of this opening derives from Ravel’s handling of the instruments, producing colours and effects of stunning beauty and richness. The exquisitely crafted Allegro that follows is in sonata form and it is no less imaginative in terms of its exploration of ravishing instrumental effects, culminating in a dazzling coda. 

© Nigel Simeone 

Dynamique 
Nocturne 
Festif 
 

Connesson composed this Sextet for a New Year concert given on 4 January 1998 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and dedicated it to the pianist Eric Le Sage. It is scored for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, double bass and piano. In a note on the work, Connesson has written that ‘the Sextet is marked by a spirit of entertainment and good humour. The first movement, ‘Dynamique’, is a set of variations which uses processes derived from American minimalist music. The central ‘Nocturne’ expresses thoughts that are both sweet and painful, played by the clarinet over the harmonic carpet of strings and piano. Finally, ‘Festif’ unleashes feverish joy around its motifs, among which we find a nod to Schubert’s Trout Quintet.’ 

© Nigel Simeone