Philippe Graffin - download (MP3 & FLAC)

The Cras project reaches its conclusion. This is no doubt the final volume in a long series. It is entirely devoted to the works that Jean Cras composed for his wife or children, all of them musicians. For a man whose career in the French Navy often kept him apart from his family it was a means of drawing closer to them: the Âmes d’enfants are presented here in their original version for the six hands of his three daughters, the four pieces for violin and piano intended as successive birthday offerings for his little boy, the much awaited child whose first birthday Cras would celebrate with a piano piece of the same name (Premier Anniversaire) — a highly elaborate and difficult work, of which Timpani owns the manuscript. As for his wife, he dedicated to her shortly before his death these Trois Chansons Bretonnes, a prefiguration perhaps of his death. And finally, the Piano Concerto finds here a performer of choice (in an INA 1948 source): his daughter, the work’s dedicatee who was a remarkable pianist and who formed a duet with her husband Alexander Tansman.

The performers are regulars to the collection. Particular care has been taken with the booklet: a text by a specialist, very many photos, most newly released, that reveal a Jean Cras who swapped his officer’s uniform for more homely garb.

This third volume in the Gaubert series presents the world premiere recordings of four dynamic and varied works. All of Gaubert’s art is featured here – perfect writing, original ideas, melodic sense and colourful orchestration. The first two volumes received outstanding critical acclaim, this release will surely follow suit.