It's Not British, but...In the Age of Debussy: Music for flute and piano

This remarkable CD of French flute and piano music presents original works and some arrangements. I listened to the CD in order, except that I grouped the two pieces by Debussy together. 

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) has composed an interesting work that looks forward to the musical style of ‘Les Six’ as well as taking a backward glance towards Debussy. D’un matin de Printemps was originally conceived for violin and piano and dates from the spring of 1917. Arrangements for violin, cello and piano as well as the present version followed immediately afterwards. In the last weeks of her life, she transcribed it for full orchestra. This was her final musical offering before her early death. D’un matin de Printemps is a fresh and vibrant work that evokes the springtime in a manner that both Debussy and Francis Poulenc would have approved of.

It is unfortunate that Paul Dukas is recalled only for his The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897), brought to a vivid life of its own by Walt Disney in Fantasia (1940). Compared to other composers, Dukas’s catalogue is not huge, but includes an excellent Symphony, the opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue, the ballet La Peri and a superb piano sonata. His musical style straddles romanticism and modernism, and sometimes touches on impressionism. La Plainte, au loin, du Faune (1920) was written for inclusion in the dedicatory Tombeau de Claude Debussy. This volume was commissioned in 1920 by Henry Prunières, director of the Revue Musicale. It featured contributions from the great and good of contemporary European music. These included Albert Roussel, Maurice Ravel, Eugene Goossens, Manuel de Falla and Igor Stravinsky. Dukas’s number incorporates several quotations and allusions to Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. The original version of La Plainte was for piano solo, but the present arrangement allows the flute to explore the ‘many decorative phrases in the [piano’s] higher register’. It works exceptionally well.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed a chamber ensemble arrangement of Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (DACOCD 842). I noted there that several versions of this masterpiece had been created by various hands. These included the composer’s own arrangement for two pianos (1895), an arrangement for the ‘Pierrot Ensemble’ of flute, clarinet, violin and cello and the reworking by Carl-Oscar Østerlind and Kristoffer Hyldig for violin, cello, piano and clarinet.  The present version for flute and piano was made by the French composer and writer, Gustave Samazeuilh (1877-1967) in 1925. It is an enjoyable and effective transcription, but is it necessary? For me, the orchestral original is just sheer perfection.

My big discovery on this CD was Bilitis pour flute. This work has an involved history. In 1897, Debussy set three poems by Pierre Louÿs for female voice and piano. It was published as Les Chansons de Bilitis. During 1900-01 Debussy ‘expanded’ this into an instrumental piece with two flutes, two harps and celesta. It was designed to accompany a narrator reading 12 poems from Louÿs’s collection. Three of these were arrangements of the original songs. It is understood that this score was lost. In 1914, Debussy recalled elements of this music in his Six Épigraphes antiques written for piano duo. The present recording is a transcription for flute and piano of these Épigraphes. In 1939 an orchestral arrangement was devised by Ernest Ansermet.

The listener should bear in mind the pastiche nature of the songs, the titles and the music. Pierre Louÿs managed to fool classicists into believing that he had discovered poems by the Greek poet Bilitis, a friend of Sappho, in a lost tomb in Cyprus. The music has an artificially developed archaic feeling, created by ecclesiastical modes, whole-tone scales and arabesques. The entire score is timeless in its impact. I never tire of hearing this music in any version. This arrangement for flute and piano is particularly satisfying.

André Caplet (1878-1925) was a French composer and conductor. For better or worse he is now recalled only for his orchestrations of some of Debussy’s works including Children’s Corner, the ever popular ‘Clair de lune’ from the Suite bergamasque and The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. Several of his many original pieces have appeared on record in recent years. The 2 Petites pièces for flute and piano were written in 1897 whilst Caplet was studying at the Paris Conservatoire.  The ‘Reverie’ and ‘Petite Valse’ look to Fauré for their inspiration and charm but also present some wayward harmonies and modulations on their own account.

I am not sure why Gabriel Fauré’s Sonate pour violon No. 1[in A major] op. 13 (1875-76) has been ‘arranged’ for flute. It does not appear to have been sanctioned by the composer. This large and impressive work is presented in four movements. This Sonata is usually credited as the composer’s earliest success and is characterised by a romantic mood, vibrancy and passion. Highlights here are the thoughtful ‘andante’ and the vivacious ‘scherzo.’ Although I am happy with this reworking for flute and piano, I think that I will stick with the original incarnation. That said, the wind instrument certainly cut the mustard with the ebullient ‘Scherzo’. Finally, it is not stated in the liner notes who made this arrangement.

Ransom Wilson (flute) and François Dumont (piano) give splendid performances of all this music. The sound quality is well balanced throughout. The programme notes by Roger Nichols are ideal. They give each work concise, but wholly relevant, details. There are the usual biographies of the two soloists. The cover painting, La Rue Saint-Lazare, temps lumineux (1893) by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) sums up the ethos of this disc. 

I enjoyed this all the music on this innovative CD. The three ‘arrangements’ are interesting experiments, that will be of interest to aficionados of Fauré’s and Debussy’s music. I felt that Bilitis pour flûte was a major addition to the repertoire. On the other hand, I will stick with the originals of Gabriel Fauré’s Sonate pour violon No. 1 and Claude Debussy’s voluptuous Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune.

Track Listing:
Lili BOULANGER (1893-1918) D’un matin de printemps (1917/18)
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918) Bilitis pour flûte (1914)
Paul DUKAS (1865-1935) La Plainte, au loin, du Faune...(1920)
Claude DEBUSSY Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune L86a (1894) 8.52 Transcription for flute by Gustave SAMAZEUILH (1877-1967)
André CAPLET (1878-1925) 2 petites pièces (1897)
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924) Sonate pour violon No. 1 op. 13 (1875)
Ransom Wilson (flute), François Dumont (piano)
Rec. Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, UK. 21-23 March 2019
NIMBUS NI 6407
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.