Mitteleuropa
Erwin SCHULHOFF (1894-1942)
Concertino [6:03]
Jan NOVÁK (1921-1984)
Marsyas [12:57]
Levente GYÖNGYÖSI (b.1975)
Sonata [12:05]
Leoš JANÁČEK (1854-1928)
Pochod Modráčků [2:03]
Sigfrid KARG-ELERT (1877-1933)
Colibri (exc. Exotic Impressions, Op.134) [2:28]
Peter KOPAČ (b.1949)
Sonatina [3:02]
Jindřich FELD (1925-2007)
Sonatina [11:59]
Jean-Louis Beaumadier (piccolo), Jordi Torrent (piano), Pierre-Henri Xuereb (viola), Gjorgji Cincievski (double bass)
rec. 2012, Studio Alys, La Grange, Manteyer, France
SKARBO DSK4132 [50:45]
The aim of this disc is to show those elements in music that remain permanent fixtures despite the seeming disappearance of national schools and indeed it is less easy to identify Russian or German music for example, today than it was in the early 20th century and before. In this case the piccolo player (surely they could be called ‘piccolists’?) Jean-Louis Beaumadier wanted to demonstrate a common vision in the music he chose to showcase that eschews strict rhythmic constraints, is influenced by traditional sources and which was driven by a clear idea of what the composer wanted to achieve. His programme certainly manages that and it also leaves you with a feeling that the case he makes for his instrument is a powerful one. In the same way as the viola is so often dismissed in favour of its smaller relation the piccolo is usually confined to the margins in an orchestra in comparison to the flute. This disc explodes that fact and the piccolo is shown as an extremely versatile and beautifully melodious instrument well capable of asserting itself, especially when it resides in the hands of such a virtuoso as Beaumadier.
The music of Erwin Schulhoff is at last being recognised for the genius it embodies. I have never heard anything by him that I have not really enjoyed; there is something about his music that makes me excited even before I have heard a note of a work of his that I don’t know. The extracts of his Concertino are yet further examples of that made somewhat frustrating because it is incomplete (because only two of the four movements use the piccolo, the other two are scored for flute) so Jean-Louis please make a recording of the complete work if you haven’t already! Having sought it out on YouTube (Emma Resmini, flute & piccolo, Julian Tello Jr., viola and Lena Goodson, double bass). I can say that in its entirety it is a boundlessly rich and powerful work as is everything of his that I have heard. He definitely had a lot to say musically and it is of continual regret to remember his was just one more voice strangled by the Nazi regime; the rich seam that it destroyed was a serious and lasting loss to world culture that it is hoped history will never forgive or forget.
It is drenched with folkloric melodies and is a thrilling whirlwind of a work leaping straight out of the blocks and is a superb vehicle for the instrument. The double bass has a role that is of almost equal weight to the piccolo, the viola complementing the two principals in its accompanying position. The music is boundlessly joyous and is quite infectious and I don’t think one would ever tire of hearing it.
Jan Novŕk’s delightful Marsyas is another joyous work and though written a year before Novŕk’s death in 1984, could easily have been composed close to when Schulhoff wrote his Concertino back in 1925. It is also imbued with a puckish nature as it dances its way pied-piperlike through its short stay. Novŕk’s compositions are definitely worth exploring further on the evidence of this piece.
Levente Gyöngyösi’s Sonata may not quote directly from the folk music of his Romanian-Hungarian heritage but it is as influenced by it as it could be without directly borrowing from it. The largo is a particular success with its birdlike appearance, not that the two outer movements aren’t equally so. The very nature of the piccolo evokes the spirit of a sprite while the piano, especially in the last movement performs a great jazzy role.
Janáček’s March of the Blue Boys is taken from his suite Mládí (Youth) for wind instruments and its third movement has been transcribed here for piccolo and piano very successfully and however well you may know the original which was scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon this setting sounds perfectly natural. It’s folk influence is strong and as such its Czech origins are close to the surface.
Colibri (Hummingbird) from Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s Exotic Impressions is so well represented that once you know what it is supposed to be it is clear; I had presumed that it might be a butterfly so I wasn’t far off the mark. Peter Kopač is a Slovenian composer and another who on the strength of this lovely little gem is worth getting to know better and this solo piccolo piece though more improvisatory than folk-inspired is just a delicious as if it were.
Jindřich Feld’s Sonatina is the most ‘modern’ in sound and style of all the works on the disc but is none less rhythmic and harmonically rich for that. It could be described as a more ‘serious’ work than the others since the capriciousness the rest demonstrate is here restrained for the most part though it does burst out in the final Allegro vivo though that too has its deeper currents.
The declared aim of the disc is successfully wrought and in the process it has thrown a spotlight on a group of composers who are not sufficiently well known, Janáček excepted, but who deserve to be so the disc is for me a success on several levels. I note that it is World Piccolo, Vol. 1 holding out the promise of further excursions into the world of the piccolo and the prospect of works for it composed by people further afield than Europe, a tantalising carrot if ever there was one! It goes (or should) without saying that the performers are top notch with Jean-Louis Beaumadier leading the field with performances that thrill and delight in equal measure and with a staggering degree of virtuosity that inspires both wonder and true admiration. His colleagues are no less inspirational and provide not just support but genuinely collaborative music-making of the highest standard. This is an adorable disc I shall be listening to often; I can’t wait to lend it out to friends I know will appreciate it as much as I did. Skarbo is a new name for a record label, at least it is to me, but if this is to be the standard of its future releases I await them with a greedy eagerness!
Steve Arloff
