Black Oak Ensemble - Avant l'orage: French String Trios, 1926-1939 (2022) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

CD1
01. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: I. Prélude
02. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: II. Nocturne
03. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: III. Scherzo
04. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: IV. Final
05. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. —
06. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Lent
07. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Animé
08. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: IV. Très animé
09. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. Presto
10. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Adagio
11. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Final en forme de tarantelle
12. Trio à cordes: I. Allegretto vivo
13. Trio à cordes: II. Scherzo
14. Trio à cordes: III. Andante
15. Trio à cordes: IV. Rondo

CD2
01. Trio à cordes: I. Allegro con brio
02. Trio à cordes: II. Légende
03. Trio à cordes: III. Allegro aperto
04. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. Prélude
05. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Française
06. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Sarabande
07. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: IV. Divertissement
08. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: V. Musette
09. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: VI. Forlane
10. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 1, Modéré, sans lenteur
11. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 2, Chanson
12. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 3, Les trois clercqs de Sainct-Nicholas



Black Oak Ensemble, the Chicago-based string trio with an international following, treats listeners to a double-album of stylish and often witty French treasures written between the World Wars.

The ensemble offers seven rarely heard delicacies from the 1920s and 30s, including world premiere recordings of trios by Henri Tomasi, Robert Casadesus, and Gustave Samazeuilh along with works by Jean Cras, Emile Goué, Jean Françaix, and Gabriel Pierné. Most were written for and dedicated to the virtuosic Trio Pasquier, which ranked among the era’s chamber music superstars.

Tomasi’s Mediterranean roots are heard in the Provençal folk melody referenced in his Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement, noted for its colorful, kaleidoscopic finale. Casadesus’s Trio à cordes combines fine craftsmanship and poetic sincerity. Samazeuilh, a disciple of Claude Debussy, wrote his Suite en trio in the form of a Baroque dance suite.

Celtic-infused folk music of his native Brittany emerges in Cras’s Trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle, as does an homage to Beethoven’s Op. 132 string quartet. Goué wrote his Trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle, energized with folk-dance elements, on the eve of his World War II army deployment. Françaix’s Trio displays his trademark textural clarity, agility, and sense of humor. Pierné’s Trois pièces en trio has even more fun with the listener with its satirical finale conjuring intoxicated, stumbling “fat cats” (actually an ironic reference to clerics/priests) out on the town.

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