Dukas: Villanelle

Paul Dukas (1865-1935) was extremely critical of his own work and destroyed a great deal. This accounts for the fact that he left a remarkably small catalogue of works. Aside from the incredibly popular Sorcerer's Apprentice most of his work remains relatively little-known to the majority of music lovers. The Symphony in C is a particularly fine work that will appeal to anyone familar with the symphonies of Franck, Chausson and d'Indy, and the Piano Sonata is a substantial work that rewards repeated listening. La Péri of 1912 was Dukas' last major work; for the remainder of his life he remained, like Sibelius, almost silent as a composer, concentrating on his work as a composition teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. It was at the Conservatoire that his pupils included a new generation of 20th century composers, among them Maurice Duruflé, Olivier Messiaen, Jean Langlais, Carlos Chavez and Joaquín Rodrigo.

The cheapest, most attractively presented and most comprehensive single disc (78 minutes) of Dennis Brain in today’s market.

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Dittersdorf, Dukas and an excerpt from the Hoffnung Music Festival, 1956.

Newly re-mastered.

‘He was innately musical in a way which defies description or analysis. He shaped phrases with an instinctive rightness that seemed inevitable. Technical problems did not exist for him. He had tamed the most notoriously intractable of all instruments to be his obedient servant and raised it again to sing the song the sirens sang.’ Walter Legge

This selection of French music for horn and piano reveals the increasing variety in sound which the horn was able to produce thanks to the invention of valves.

The history of the horn and its technical development has been of particular importance to French music. In contrast to Germany, horn players in France initially declined to use the valved horn after its invention in the 19th-century, which was reflected in the style of contemporary composition.

Juxtaposing works for horn and piano of the 19th and 20th centuries allows an insight into the different playing techniques of the instrument and its development from natural to valved horn, the turning point of which is exemplified by Paul Dukas’ Villanelle.

The two Italian musicians Guglielmo Pellarin (horn) and Federico Lovato (piano) are making their joint recording début with this disc and have also chosen rarely heard works by the contemporary French composers Jean-Michel Damase and Jean-Michel Defaye, featuring surprisingly jazzy elements. The Sonata for Horn and Piano by Jean-Michel Damase is a première recording. Guglielmo Pellarin is principal horn of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He also regularly performs with the Symphonica Toscanini, the orchestras of the Teatro Verdi di Trieste and the Teatro alla Scala di Milano and the Filarmonica della Scala under conductors including Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and John Eliot Gardiner. He has won many prizes and has toured Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Canada.

Federico Lovato studied piano in Venice and Imola. He has won numerous national and international competitions. He has given solo and chamber performances throughout Italy and Europe, including at the Gasteig in Munich, Teatr Mały in Warsaw, Teatro alle Erbe in Milan and Sala Mozart in Bologna. His repertoire spans from classicism to contemporary music. In addition to his career as concert pianist he teaches and is the Artistic Director of the orchestra I Solisti in Villa.

An exciting recording of French and Australian works for horn and orchestra featuring one of Australia’s most acclaimed soloists, BEN JACKS, Sydney Symphony Principal Horn, performing with ORCHESTRA VICTORIA, and THE QUEENSLAND ORCHESTRA, led by distinguished conductor BARRY TUCKWELL, the greatest horn soloist of his era.

The title track Rhapsodie, by contemporary French composer, Jean-Michel Damase was commissioned by the famous satirist Barry Humphries for BARRY TUCKWELL and was first performed by him as soloist in 1987. This is the world premiere recording of this work.

Included are world premiere recordings of Damase’s Horn Concerto and Paul Terracini’s superb new orchestral arrangement of Paul Dukas’ popular Villanelle, especially commissioned for this CD.

Also included is the well-known Morceau de Concert pour cor et orchestre by Saint-Saëns, the premiere recording of the Phantasy for horn and orchestra by Australian composer, G.W.L. Marshall-Hall (1905), the first Australian horn concerto written, and Koechlin’s sensuous Poéme pour cor et orchestre.

Recorded with two of Australia’s leading orchestras: Orchestra Victoria and The Queensland Orchestra. It is The Queensland Orchestra’s first recording in an ongoing collaboration with Melba.

Coupled with his career as Principal Horn with the Sydney Symphony, BEN JACKS has a busy solo career performing with symphony orchestras from Adelaide to Chicago, solo recitals, and as a chamber musician.