In the mid-1960s,
Erato recorded a good many of Jolivet’s
works. These recordings were either
conducted or supervised by the composer.
This and the fact that most performers
taking part in these recordings had
a long association with the music give
them an unmistakable ring of authenticity,
although younger musicians have now
successfully followed suit. Some time
later, all the concertos, but the Bassoon
Concerto, were re-issued in a boxed
set of LPs. Now, at long last, Erato
are re-issuing these splendid performances
in a generously filled and neatly re-mastered
4-CD set. Among others this brings several
works back into the current catalogue.
Several works, such as the cello concertos,
the Ondes Martenot Concerto
and Cinq Danses rituelles
(at least in their orchestral guise)
have not been recorded since the time
of these Erato recordings. This set
includes works from various periods
of Jolivet’s busy composing career which
allows for a pretty comprehensive survey.
The earlier works are
the fairly well-known. These include
Incantations for solo
flute of 1936-1937 and the rarely heard
Cinq Danses rituelles
of 1939, although the original piano
version is reasonably well represented
on disc. Incantations
is the first and the best known of several
substantial works for solo instruments
that Jolivet composed throughout his
career. The other ones (Suite
rhapsodique for violin, Asceses
for clarinet, Eglogues
for viola and Suite en concert
for cello) are rather less well-known,
although they have all been recorded.
André Navarra’s recording of
Suite en concert for Erato
was coupled Kodaly’s Sonata for
solo cello. Both Cinq
Danses rituelles and Incantations
as well as the piano suite Mana
belong to Jolivet’s first period. The
music adheres to some of the ‘principles’
set-out by the Jeune France group
(Messiaen, Jolivet, Baudrier and Daniel-Lesur),
"to restore music’s ancient, original
meaning when it was the magic and incantatory
expression of the sacred in human communities"
(Jolivet’s own words). Jolivet stuck
to this and other guidelines all his
life. His meeting and private studies
with Edgard Varèse also greatly
helped him achieving his ideals, at
least in musical terms. One might be
tempted to consider Cinq Danses
as a remake of Stravinsky’s Rite
of Spring, which must have been
at the back of his mind at the time,
but which is a literally unique achievement,
difficult to imitate and impossible
to emulate. Jolivet went his own way
and the end result is a gripping score
of great intensity and great expressive
strength, but ultimately tamer that
Stravinsky’s earth-shaking masterpiece.
During the war years,
Jolivet’s music became much simpler
and more accessible, although he managed
to avoid neo-classical clichés;
the same clichés rejected by
Jeune France. This is clearly
to be heard in the beautiful Suite
liturgique (1942 - voice, oboe
doubling cor anglais, cello and harp)
and Poèmes intimes
(1944 – voice and piano which Bernac
and Poulenc often performed in recitals),
both heard here, and the lovely Pastorales
de Noël (1943 – flute,
bassoon and harp), not included here
though I think that it, too, was recorded
by Erato. Suite liturgique,
for solo female voice and instruments,
originates in some incidental music
for Henri Ghéon’s Mystère
de la visitation. The version for
female voices and instruments heard
here was made at the suggestion of Lily
Laskine. Poèmes intimes
on words by Louis Emié is dedicated
to the composer’s wife on their 10th
wedding anniversary. He will do so every
ten years. Epithalame
for chorus and Yin Yang
for strings were similarly celebrating
other such anniversaries. All the pieces
of that period, i.e. up to about 1950,
are characterised by clarity, economy
of means and direct appeal, without
ever falling into the trap of facility.
The Serenade for wind
quintet and the fairly well-known Chant
de Linos provide further examples
of such clear, direct, superbly crafted
and expressive music, for all its apparent
simplicity.
Concertos (he composed
twelve of them) feature prominently
in Jolivet’s output. They were composed
at various periods of his life and under
varied circumstances (some were written
as test pieces while other were written
with specific soloists in mind), so
that each has its own character. It
may be surprising to know that the Concerto
for ondes Martenot was the first
to be composed. Other composers had
used the ondes Martenot previously (one
thinks of Messiaen in his sextet La
Fête des belles eaux and
Koechlin in Le Buisson ardent
and the Seven Stars Symphony
as well as Honegger in Jeanne
au Bûcher); but Jolivet’s
may well be the first full-fledged concerto
for the instrument. Obliquely inspired
by the myth of Orpheus, it is in three
movements, albeit not along the traditional
pattern (fast-slow-fast). The tension
accumulated in the course of the first
two movements, and particularly in the
central nightmarish movement, is released
in the beautifully magical final movement
ending peacefully on a luminous final
major chord. There are not that many
concertos for ondes Martenot (I can
mention that of Marcel Landowski, Concertino
"alla francese" of
Jacques Charpentier and the refined
and subtly impressionistic Kaleidoscope
of Jacques Bondon as equally successful
works for ondes Martenot and orchestra
or instrumental ensemble). The present
re-issue of Jolivet’s superb concerto
is most welcome. The Flute Concerto
(1949), the Trumpet Concertino
(1948), the Harp Concerto
(1952), the Trumpet Concerto No.2
and the Suite en concert
(1965/6) for flute and percussion, often
referred to as Flute Concerto No.2,
are comparatively better-known. They
are fairly often heard in concert and
well served as far as recordings are
concerned; I will not dwell on them
for too long. Suffice it to say that
they are all superbly written for the
instruments, calling for musicality
and virtuosity as well, but never gratuitously
so. They all cleverly avoid all the
instrumental formulas that one may sometimes
find in such pieces. All the soloists
play with the prerequisite virtuosity,
technique and commitment. Jean-Pierre
Rampal often played Jolivet’s music
for flute, and Maurice André
really made Jolivet’s trumpet music
his own. Two other trumpet works here
were often championed by Maurice André,
the short Arioso barocco
(1968 – trumpet and organ) and the more
substantial Heptade (1970
– trumpet and percussion). In his recording
of Heptade, André
is accompanied by a huge array of percussion
instruments played by no less than Jean-Claude
Casadesus, Jean-Pierre Drouet, Diego
Masson and Jean-Charles François.
This highly demanding virtuoso piece
in seven contrasted movements (hence
its title), was written for Maurice
André and uses the whole gamut
of modern trumpet playing calling for
a remarkable agility – and musicality
– on the player’s part to bring it off
successfully. Need I say that Maurice
André does bring it off in a
most successful way? On the other hand,
the delightful Bassoon Concerto
is somewhat lesser-known, which is a
pity because it does not pale when compared
to the other wind concertos.
The cello was Jolivet’s
own instrument, so no wonder that his
cello concertos are among his greatest
achievements. By the time he completed
his Cello Concerto No.1
(1962), Jolivet had already composed
one of his most gripping and personal,
and at times controversial, works -
the impressive Piano Concerto
of 1951 (a recording of it is now available
again on Les Rarissimes de André
Jolivet – EMI 7243 5 85237-2 that
I reviewed
here some time ago). In this
as in the First Cello Concerto, Jolivet,
now in his full maturity and in full
command of his skills, really achieves
his Jeune France ideals, in invigorating
musical terms full of contrasts, arresting
sonorities and rhythmic alertness. In
the first and second movements of the
First Cello Concerto, the music conjures
mysterious, ominous, primeval visions,
no less so in the extraordinary second
movement; really a jungle in sounds
that also includes a remarkable cadenza.
The third movement, a brilliant moto
perpetuo, has the dancing quality
often associated with Jolivet’s final
movements, and rushes headlong towards
its mightily assertive conclusion. Suite
en concert for solo cello was
completed some time later. This impressive,
often quite beautiful work in five contrasted
movements is certainly not unworthy
the comparison with Bach’s cello suites
(to which it pays a passing tribute),
Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin
and, of course, Kodaly’s grand Sonata
for Solo Cello. This demanding
music (Navarra once recalled in an interview
how his fingers were bleeding after
the first run-through), though, still
is as communicative as ever. This led
to the completion of the Second Cello
Concerto written for and first performed
by Rostropovich. Though unmistakably
by the same composer, the Second Cello
Concerto is poles apart from its predecessor.
First, it is scored for strings (including
a solo quintet surrounding the soloist).
Second, it is on the whole more lyrical.
The music, as demanding as ever, fully
displays Jolivet’s orchestral mastery;
for, while renouncing the hugely varied
sound palette of the First Cello Concerto,
Jolivet conjures some remarkably imaginative
and powerfully expressive string writing.
As far as I am concerned, Jolivet’s
cello concertos undoubtedly belong to
his greatest achievements, though they
are still unjustly and shamefully neglected
by cellists, which is hard to understand,
when one thinks of the comparative popularity
of Dutilleux’s and Lutosławski’s
equally demanding and rewarding concertos.
One of the Erato recordings,
that – much to my dismay – is unaccountably
missing in the present compilation,
is that of the magnificent ‘concerto
for voice and orchestra’ Songe
à nouveau rêvé
(1970), one of his supreme masterpieces
and one of the peaks of his output.
It was available on the same LP as Poèmes
intimes (STU 71120) marvellously
sung by Colette Herzog with superb support
from the Orchestre Philharmonique de
Strasbourg conducted by Alain Lombard.
I know that making compilations such
as this one often poses cruel dilemmas;
but I cannot understand how this could
have been left out. I hope that it will
soon be re-issued in one way or another.
All these works are
superbly played by artists long associated
with Jolivet’s music. The recorded sound
is generally very fine. The original
recordings of the Harp Concerto and
of the Ondes Martenot Concerto were
a bit problematic, but they now sound
remarkably well.
Apart from my reservation
concerning the absence of Songe
à nouveau rêvé,
this compilation is a must for all admirers
of Jolivet’s music, the more so that
some of these works are otherwise unavailable
on CD. This set is also a fair introduction
to Jolivet’s substantial and varied
output. As such it may be safely recommended
to those who want to investigate his
music, in excellent performances and
at quite approachable expense.
Hubert Culot
Lily Laskine (harp)c; Jeanne Loriod
(ondes Martenot)e; Colette Herzog (soprano)i;
André Navarra (cello)a; Mstislav
Rostropovich (cello)b; Maurice André
(trumpet)d; Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute)f;
Maurice Allard (bassoon)h; Maîtrise
de l’ORTF, Jacques Jouineaui; Quintette
Marie-Claire Jametg; Orchestre de l’association
des Concerts Lamoureux; Orchestre National de
l’ORTF; Orchestre Philharmonique de l’ORTF; Orchestre
Jean-François Paillard; Orchestre Philharmonique
de Strasbourgj; André Jolivet,
Alain Lombardj 