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Chopin Preludes for Piano
Chopin began writing Polonaises as a young child in his native Poland. He was immediately recognized as a prodigy and compared favorably with the master Polonaise composer, Oginski. After leaving Poland at the age of 20, he spent the rest of his life in Paris, but he remained fiercely patriotic and was especially moved by the tragedy of the failed Polish uprising of 1830. The raw and powerful Polonaise in F# Minor, op. 44, was composed in 1841. It is a wonderful example of Chopin's ability to take a simple patriotic dance-form and bring to it an extraordinary originality and expressive force. One special feature of this Polonaise is Chopin's use of a gentle mazurka (another Polish dance) as a middle section.
The Barcarolle in F# Major, opus 60 was composed in 1845-46. A Barcarolle is a Venetian gondola song. Of Chopin's Barcarolle, Ravel said: "Through his brilliant passages one perceives profound, enchanting harmonies. Always there is the hidden meaning which is translated into poetry of intense despair....The Barcarolle is the synthesis of the expressive and sumptuous art of this great Slav."
Most of Chopin's mature music was composed on a French fortepiano by Pleyel, but Chopin was also partial to Graf style Viennese pianos he had performed on in 1830 when he made his very successful debut in Vienna. On this recording Eric Zivian plays an original Graf style fortepiano by Anton Rausch, built in Vienna in 1841.
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Chopin Recital
Clementi/Dussek/Kuhlau: Sonatinas For Piano
Contemporary Romantics
Courante: French Baroque Lute Duets
Dances and Canzonas of Holborne and Brade
D'Anglebert Pieces de Clavecin, 1689 Paris
The harpsichord music of Jean-Henri D'Anglebert boasts an extraordinary richness of texture and a dense tapestry of ornaments. The many small ornamental figures, liberally added like embroidery to the dances that make up the majority of the harpsichord pieces, result in a sumptuous variety of detail, an elegant s...
The harpsichord music of Jean-Henri D'Anglebert boasts an extraordinary richness of texture and a dense tapestry of ornaments. The many small ornamental figures, liberally added like embroidery to the dances that make up the majority of the harpsichord pieces, result in a sumptuous variety of detail, an elegant subtlety that mirrors the elegance and richness of Louis XIV's court. Yet underneath this brocade of ornamentation, D'Anglebert's music...
The harpsichord music of Jean-Henri D'Anglebert boasts an extraordinary richness of texture and a dense tapestry of ornaments. The many small ornamental figures, liberally added like embroidery to the dances that make up the majority of the harpsichord pieces, result in a sumptuous variety of detail, an elegant subtlety that mirrors the elegance and richness of Louis XIV's court. Yet underneath this brocade of ornamentation, D'Anglebert's music is fundamentally both simple and lyrical.
The three Suites presented on this album offer a rich combination of passion and turbulence coupled with a reflective and at times majestic soundscape. The range of experience offered by D'Anglebert is impressive as the listener is urged along from periods of introspection to episodes of agitated brilliance.
Among the many wonderful works included on this album is The Tombeau de Mr. de Chambonnières, an elegiac piece written for D'Anglebert's teacher, Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. It has been hailed as one of the great harpsichord pieces of the seventeenth century. Although this is an instrumental piece not associated with a text, the listener receives its message of grieving and tribute just as clearly as if it had words, perhaps more so, since music can speak at an even deeper level than words.
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