MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
Plain text for smartphones & printers


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Support us financially by purchasing
this through MusicWeb
for £10.50 postage paid world-wide.

Maurice EMMANUEL (1862-1938)
Violin Sonata in D Minor (1902) [27:56]
Suite sur des airs populaires grecs Op. 10 (1907) [10:53]
Musiques (1917) [31:51]
Frédéric Angleraux (violin); Hélène Hébrard (mezzo); François Killian (piano)
rec. 5-11 December 2013, Charratmuse, Charrat, Switzerland. DDD
Text and translations included
Sonata: world premiere recording
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC 0231 [72:37]

Maurice Emmanuel was a contemporary of Debussy and Dukas but his interests in folk music, the Classical age and musical experimentation make him unique.

An Op. 6 written at the age of 40 may seem like the product of a late-bloomer but Emmanuel was extremely critical of his own works and of an output comprising 70+ only about 30 survive. The Violin Sonata is quite Franckian in many ways, but in the breadth of its themes, unique use of modality and occasional playfulness are evidence of a composer with his own voice. It is in the first movement that the influence of Franck is most evident but at the same time one feels that Emmanuel is using Franck’s style as a means to broaden his own. The adagio is dark and passionate, with more harmonic experimentation than in the first movement while the concluding allegro giocoso has a most interesting main theme which the composer combines ably with previous material for an impressive finale.

The Suite sur des airs populaires grecs, Op. 10 started out as illustrative material for a lecture on the history of Greek folk music. Several years later the composer turned the lecture examples into a vivid concert work evocative of Greek songs and dances. Of these the most effective is the third piece, Pyrghi, which has a most expressive middle section. The last piece, Boulgarikos, combines song and dance in vigorous fashion.

Louis de Launay was a geologist, historian, and poet who was a life-long friend of Emmanuel. His Musiques is a set of twelve poems evocative of musical forms written against the background of the Great War. While full of contrast the poems share an austerity appropriate to the times. This last element is foremost in Emmanuel’s settings but combined with great beauty of line and a certain tenderness. A fine example is the second song Vibrations in which the beautiful and evocative vocal line is combined with an abstract accompaniment. The listener feels an emotion that is both strong and intangible. The sixth song, Invitation à la Valse, and the tenth, Valse Hongroise, are both evocative of that dance form. Where the first is full of irony, the second is more like Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau, with beautiful melody disappearing into the distance - a perfect evocation of the text. The last song, Postlude, speaks of de Launay’s hopes for France after the end of the war. Again Emmanuel perfectly captures the text with a mixture of beauty and austerity.

Frédéric Angleraux and Francois Killian turn in powerful performances of both the violin works. Angleraux’s tone and attack are just right for the music and Killian is equally good in the complex accompaniments. Killian is even more subtle in Musiques showing a true understanding of both poetry and music. He is matched by Hélène Hébrard whose performance is full of insight combined with complete mastery of the cycle’s vocal demands.

While Emmanuel remains something of a cult figure his music is very well-represented on disc. The present recording of the Violin Sonata is a world premiere, but there are two other recordings of the Suite available currently and a fine performance by Florence Katz of Musiques on Timpani (see review). Many listeners may choose the latter disc as it comprises the complete Emmanuel songs but Ms. Hébrard’s performance merits the purchaser’s serious consideration in itself.

William Kreindler

Full Track-List
Violin Sonata in D Minor (1902) [27:56]
1) Adagio Moderato [13:42]
2) Adagio non troppo [8:01]
3) Allegro giocoso [6:11]
 
Suite sur des airs populaires grecs Op. 10 (1907) [10:53]
4) Khasarikos: Allegro moderato [3:51]
5) Mamaro et Amades: Allegretto [3:04]
6) Pyrghi: Allegro ma non troppo [1:54]
7) Boulgarikos: Allegro ma non troppo [2:04]
 
Musiques (1917) [31:51]
8) Prélude [2:37]
9) Vibrations [30:22]
10) Le Vieux Coucou [1:34]
11) Sous les pins [2:24]
12) Résonances [2:30]
13) Invitation à la valse [1:26]
14) Villanelle du temps passé [2:38]
15) Berceuse [3:58]
16) Marche au bonheur [1:19]
17) Valse hongroise [2:00]
18) Des mots! Des mots! [1:53]
19) Postlude [3:41]