Elles
Clara SCHUMANN (1819-1896)
Trois romances op.22 [11.41]
Nadia BOULANGER (1887-1979)
Trois pièces pour violincelle et piano arr. pour alto et piano [7.05]
Fanny HENSEL (1805-1847)
Dämmrung senkte sich von oben [2.10]
Rebecca CLARKE (1886-1979)
Sonate pour alto et piano [24.37]
Lillian FUCHS (1901-1995)
Sonate Pastorale (1956) [12.27]
Anna PIDGORNA (b. 1985)
The Child, Bringer of Light [10.12]
Marina Thibeault (viola)
Marie-Ève Scarfone (piano)
rec. 2018, Domaine Forget, St-Irénée, Québec, Canada
ATMA CLASSIQUE ACD22772 [68.09]
The “Elles” in question could be violist Marina Thibeault and pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone or the six women composers featured here. Mind you, their record producer Johanne Goyette also deserves a mention. It certainly gives the lie to those words of Clara Schumann; “I am just a woman, after all, and women are not made to be composers.”
What with eight children, international concert tours, teaching, inspiring Brahms and an ailing husband, it’s a wonder Clara managed to write anything, but her Three Romances of 1853 have recently become quite widely recorded. This beautiful music for violin and piano is even more delightful when played –as here – on the viola. The instrument – and Marina Thibeault’s playing of it – gives it a burnished depth which only adds to its impact.
Nadia Boulanger is, of course, better known as a teacher (of everyone from Aaron Copland to Michel Legrand); she eventually gave up composing, writing that her music was neither “good enough to be beautiful, nor bad enough to be amusing.” Her three pieces for cello and piano, originally for organ, but arranged here for viola, are certainly good enough to be heard, and the third movement in particular, with its jaunty tune and plucked strings, is very attractive. In her case, it seems to have been the need to raise money and make a living which prevented her composing more.
In the case of Fanny Mendelssohn, sister of the more famous Felix, the villain of the piece appears to have been her father, who told her, “music is likely to become a profession for Felix, while it is only an ornament for you; it may never form the core of your life.” Felix didn’t help, and several of her songs were published under his name (including one Queen Victoria told him she liked; how embarrassing.)
Her husband, the painter William Hensel, was actually very supportive of his wife’s composing, which may be why she’s referred to on this disc as Fanny Hensel. I think some standardisation of names might be needed, however, if only to help researchers; I see Hyperion refer to her throughout their discs as Fanny Mendelssohn.
Her song “Dämmrung senkte sich von oben” (Dusk has descended from on high) is quite ravishing, and the extra depth of the viola is completely appropriate for this evocation of nightfall.
Rebecca Clarke’s viola sonata is much more substantial than anything else on the disc – and I see Classic FM was promoting it a couple of years ago as one of the greatest works of the 20th century which you’ve probably never heard of. So unlikely did it seem to the Coolidge competition that a woman could have composed it, that it was believed to be by Ernest Bloch, who duly won the competition. It repays repeated listening, and has a sound world all its own.
The final two compositions are for viola solo, the Sonata Pastorale by Lillian Fuchs, a 12-minute threnody with more than a hint of Bach, and The Child, Bringer of Light, by Anna Pidgorna, which I haven’t yet come to terms with (lots of sounds, not a lot of music, it seems to me so far.)
All in all, this is a worthy successor to Marina Thibeault’s first disc, Toquade. It’s a fascinating disc of music which deserves to be better known – and not just because it is all by women. The recording is impeccable and the balance between viola and piano spot-on.
Chris Ramsden
