Though he wrote two
piano concertos and a ballade for piano
and orchestra – not to mention numerous
chamber works in which the piano features
prominently – Martin wrote very little
for solo piano. Whether this is a puzzle
or not, the fact remains that Martin
was a fine pianist in his own right
and his own recording of the Eight Préludes
can currently be found on Jecklin –
highly recommended. The Préludes
were inspired by Martin’s friendship
with – and admiration for – Dinu Lipatti
and it’s a feature of this set from
ABC of the complete solo (and two piano/four
hand) piano works that so many were
composed for specific people or for
particular occasions, such as competitions.
That the nature of some may have been
pièces d’occasion should
not, however, lessen their intrinsic
interest.
The Préludes
open sternly with a Grave full of space
and questing runs, embrace a quizzically
insistent Allegretto with a rather hypnotic
drive and expand to the insect like
scamper in the unusual Vivace. This
is a delicious piece of naughtiness.
The Andantino grazioso’s more elliptical
cast would have been well suited to
Lipatti’s penetrating sense of depth,
though once again Martin ensures that
there’s a real sense of motion and movement;
this is the spirit that animates the
whole cycle. But it’s the penultimate
Lento for which Martin reserves the
greatest weight, a six and a half minute
span of rather unsettled writing reaching
a peak of abstract tension. All this
is swept away by the driving high spirits
of the Vivace finale. Esquisse is
a competition piece and explores timbral
variety in its outer sections which
contrast with the driving rhythm of
the central panel. Clair de lune
was Martin’s contribution to an album
for the young; it’s a delightful, tiny
sliver. The Etude rythmique dates
from 1965 and it’s barely longer than
Clair de lune, lasting just two
minutes but it evokes complex rhythmic
patterns in a very compressed and accessible
canvas. Guitare was one of a
number of pieces submitted to, and unacknowledged,
by Segovia. It also exists in this version
for piano as well as for orchestra.
It’s difficult to see what Segovia disliked
in it, though his slush pile was notoriously
big; there are plenty of heady Spanish
moments and rhythms, there’s a tight
little aria antiche in the second movement
air, and plenty of drive and knotty
rhythm – as well a certain aloof inflexion
– in the brief finale (Comme une
gigue). The Fantasie sur des
rythmes flamenco was designed to
be danced to – in fact by Martin’s daughter
Teresa – and was requested by Paul Badura-Skoda.
Running through it, slower and faster,
is the rumba – though its characteristic
rhythms are never blatantly evoked –
and the most excitement is concentrated
in those moments when Martin unleashes
a quasi-boogie assault of tremendous
and unstoppable brio.
The Ouverture et
foxtrot for two pianos returns us
to 1924 and Martin’s time in Paris.
The Overture is bluffly brittle and
the Foxtrot more sinuous and insinuating
with naughty little tricks along the
way. Originally written for string quintet
the Pavane couleur de temps survives
this transformation to four hands remarkably
well, not least in its spare simplicity
and its archaic colours. Au clair
de la lune – not to be confused
with the slightly earlier children’s
album piece – uses the nursery rhyme
as its starting point and was written
for Martin’s wife and daughter to play.
It shows the playful, unbuttoned Martin.
The 1957 Etudes pour deux pianos
are, of course, tougher meat. Variously
stubborn or capriciously heavy and tensely
chromatic these are welcome additions
to the discography. There’s Spanishry
here as well, laced with a soupçon
of jazz influence in the second etude,
more of Martin’s much loved antique
flecks in the third along with a truly
romantic spirit. He finishes the set
with a fourth etude of fugal determination,
increasingly exultant.
Apart from the Préludes
very little of Martin’s solo or duo
piano music is in the catalogues, so
this double set – though it’s an hour
and a half in length – serves a valuable
purpose. One can find the Préludes,
Guitarre and Fantasie sur des
rhythms flamenco played by Klaus
Sticken on Thorofon CTH 2478 in a recording
coupled with Honegger’s piano music
– recommended despite the rather chilly
studio acoustic. Here Julie Adam’s playing
is fine, as equally is Christine Logan’s,
the notes (by Julie Adam herself) are
excellent, and only the recording may
disappoint somewhat. Unusually for this
venue it’s rather clangy and diffuse.
Otherwise, a warm welcome.
Jonathan Woolf
Julie Adam (piano) 
