Fabrice Ferez & Marc Pantillon - At the Heart of the 20th Century (2018) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist
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01. Petite complainte
02. Vocalise-Étude
03. Trois Mélodies, adaptation pour hautbois d’amour et piano: I. Pourquoi ?
04. Trois Mélodies, adaptation pour hautbois d’amour et piano: II. Le Sourire
05. Trois Mélodies, adaptation pour hautbois d’amour et piano: III. La Fiancée perdue
06. La Geôle, adaptation pour hautbois d’amour et piano
07. Shehnaï pour hautbois seul
08. Huit Préludes pour piano: I. Grave-Plus animé-Grave-Andante-Grave
09. Huit Préludes pour piano: II. Allegretto tranquillo
10. Huit Préludes pour piano: III. Tranquillo ma con moto
11. Huit Préludes pour piano: IV. Allegro
12. Huit Préludes pour piano: V. Vivace
13. Huit Préludes pour piano: VI. Andantino grazioso
14. Huit Préludes pour piano: VII. Lento-Con moto-Andante-Tempo I
15. Huit Préludes Pour Piano: VIII. Vivace
16. Sonate pour hautbois & piano: I. Aria. Grave
17. Sonate pour hautbois & piano: II. Scherzo. Vif
18. Sonate pour hautbois & piano: III. Final. Assez allant
19. Sonatine pour hautbois et piano: I. Modéré
20. Sonatine pour hautbois et piano: II. Andante
21. Sonatine pour hautbois et piano: III. Presto

Before and after the War: The works recorded here, with the obvious exception of Philippe Hersant’s solo, were written between 1930 and 1956. Following the CD that Marc and I had dedicated to the memory of the Jewish composer Pavel Haas, murdered by the Nazis, we wanted to delve further into this moment of History and tackle French and Swiss composers who had, naturally, been spared, but who were implicated in this most particular of periods.

Olivier Messiaen, upon his return from Stalag, was appointed professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1942. Henri Dutilleux was then composing his first works marked by his brother’s captivity and the poetry of the resistant Jean Cassou, alias Jean Noir.

Pierre Sancan won the Rome Prize in 1943 and Frank Martin, who had just signed up with the prestigious Viennese Universal editions in 1940, produced some of his major works during this same period, of which Cinderella (Le Conte de Cendrillon) in 1941. In 1943 in Geneva, he also met the wonderful Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti who was to become a faithful friend and the dedicatee of his Eight Preludes.

Oboe and nostalgia: According to Yvonne Loriod’s recollections, Olivier Messiaen wrote the Conservatoire Competition piece for the 1949 oboe class (unpublished), finally transforming this musical material into L’amour de Piroutcha, fifth melody of his Harawi cycle.

Messiaen only came back to the oboe as solo instrument at the very end of his life, transforming his Vocalise (1935) into the slow movement of his Concert à quatre, upon the suggestion of Heinz Holliger.

Henri Dutilleux also composed his Oboe and Piano Sonata for the Conservatoire competition in 1947. The first two movements are very inspired, of great harmonic beauty and implacable rhythmical construction. A ruthless critique of his own work, Dutilleux did not wish the Finale, less accomplished, to be heard in concert, although it still figures in the reissues of the piece.

La Geôle and Trois Mélodies recall painful family events dating from the two composers’ youth. In the case of the Trois Mélodies (1930) it is the death of Olivier Messiaen’s mother, the poetess Cécile Sauvage (1928). In La Geôle, set to a poem by Jean Cassou (1944), Henri Dutilleux refers to his brother’s captivity. In fact, much later, he reuses a dozen bars of this melody in his magnificent cycle Les correspondances (2009). The idea of adapting these melodies for the oboe d’amore, a baroque instrument revived by Ravel (Bolero) and Debussy (Gigues), was also inspired by Dutilleux’s liking for this rare and nostalgic timbre in the orchestra.

Pierre Sancan also wrote his Sonatine for the Oboe Competition of the Conservatoire, where he had just been appointed piano professor in 1956. He took great inspiration from Henri Dutilleux’s Sonatine for flute, written for the same circumstances in 1943. The slow movement is a total success, recalling Ravel and his Oiseaux Tristes, and making us regret that Sancan gave up composition in favour of his teaching and virtuoso career.

"French and Swiss works from 1930-56 imbued with the angst and despair that defined the period. Passionate solo and duo performances." (BBC Music Magazine)

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