Philippe Graffin & Claire Desert - Fiddler's Blues (2019)

Tracklist
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01. Sonate posthume pour violin seul, Op. 27: I. Allegro molto moderato ma con brio
02. Sonate posthume pour violin seul, Op. 27: II. Canzona-Lento e mesto
03. Sonate posthume pour violin seul, Op. 27: III. Finale-Giocoso (completed P. Graffin)
04. Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major: I. Allegretto
05. Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major: II. Blues-Moderato
06. Violin Sonata No. 2 in G Major: III. Perpetuum mobile-Allegro
07. Claire de lune (transcribed for solo violin by David Matthews and Philippe Graffin)
08. Petite Fantasie Romantique
09. Violin Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 25, ‘Dans le caractère populaire roumain’: I. Moderato malinconico
10. Violin Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 25, ‘Dans le caractère populaire roumain’: II. Andante sostenuto e misterioso
11. Violin Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 25, ‘Dans le caractère populaire roumain’: III. Allegro con brio, ma troppo mosso
12. Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré
13. Hora Unirii

The world-premiere recording of Eugene Ysaye’s “Posthumous” solo violin opens the album Fiddler’s Blues, the latest collaboration between violinist Philippe Graffin and pianist Claire Desert. What follows is an ingenious intersection of works by Paris-based violinists, composers and friends - Debussy, Enescu and Ravel.

Philippe Graffin’s virtuosity combined with his skills as a sleuth have led to the world-premiere recording of a “Posthumous” solo violin sonata by Eugene Ysaye, an astonishing discovery that extends the Belgian composer’s canon of his essential six sonatas for the medium. Philippe unearthed the nearly-completed manuscript in the library of the Brussels Conservatoire, and polished off the final movement in the most Ysaye-esque manner possible. Philippe’s pechant for intuitive programming is brought to bear on Fiddler’s Blues, combining two Ysa e works - including another premiere, the Petite fantasie romantique - with a pair of folksy, Bohemian-flavoured works by George Enescu, another virtuoso violinist/composer who emigrated from his native Romania and like Ysaye settled in Paris.

Enescu was a classmate of Maurice Ravel whose Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure is an affectionate nod to their teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, whilst his azure-tinged Violin Sonata influences the album’s title. Ravel’s slightly older contemporary Claude Debussy befriended Ysaye. Whereas Ysaye soared writing works for solo violin, Debussy wrote none. Suggesting how such a work may have sounded, Philippe contributes his own arrangement for solo violin, made together with David Matthews, of Debussy’s enduring piano piece Claire de lune.

The media campaign for this album already includes a major feature in The Strad.

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