Caplet usually manages to spring surprises and in the field of his wind
writing
things are no different. It seems strange that
Suite persane, though
written
in 1901, should have had to wait until 1988 for its publication; strange but
hardly
unique. There is, in parts of this work, a really striking ‘oriental
modality’
- the booklet writer’s apposite and concise phrase - that compels rapt
attention.
Written for a dixtet - 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 2
horns
- the work is performed from time to time, but far more often, inevitably,
in
Francophone countries. This is a real loss for everyone else as the solemn
intensity
of the first of the three movements is affecting, and Caplet’s
beautifully
mellifluous writing in the central movement is richly harmonised. The
incident
where the horn line is subject to the decorative curl of supporting winds is
highly
distinctive. And the flute theme in E minor is the same one Granville
Bantock
took for his
Omar Khayyam. Extrovert colour and plenty of incident,
propelled
by a vivacious rhythmic drive, animates the finale. This beautiful piece
deserves
listeners.
The Wind Quintet is a very slightly earlier work but stylistically
it inhabits a very much more ordered and conventional sound world. The
manner here is Caplet’s late-Romanticism, though here and there small
hints of his more dextrous and elfin writing are to be encountered. The slow
movement is dominated by the melancholy that’s launched by the
clarinet. Caplet ensures that though the writing is rich, it never becomes
clotted. The scherzo is appositely light-hearted, the finale more
straight-forwardly determined.
The Two Pieces for flute and piano were published in 1897, and
dedicated to that giant of French flute playing Georges Barrère by
whom they were first performed in 1900 with the composer at the piano.
There’s an attractively veiled sadness to the
Rêverie and
a frolicsome waltz to conclude. The
Légende was composed in
1904 and sounds somewhat Debussyan. It was written for solo saxophone and
orchestral forces but is here performed as a nonet. The thematic material is
strong and the array of colours and strong rhythmic devices evoked
significant. The moods are fluid, and changeable, with the warm slow section
toward the end a particular highlight.
Two recording locations were used in the performances - the
Suite
persane was taped at IRCAM in Paris - but one really wouldn’t be
able to tell. Performances are uniformly fine and sensitive. The highlight
of the disc is the
Suite persane.
Jonathan Woolf
