|
|
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Contents:
DDD Total time = 51.05 / Recorded at St. Boniface Episcopal Church, Sarasota, Florida, USA - September 1998 Eight Short Preludes on Gregorian Themes, Op 45 The Eight Gregorian Preludes were commissioned and published in 1948 by the Boston firm of McLaughlin and Reilly, the same firm that was to publish the 12 Chorale Preludes of Dupré’s protégé Jeanne Demessieux two years later. Both composers had been asked to make their music as accessible as possible, and Dupré took this stipulation more literally than Demessieux, suppressing his own musical language in favour of a more archaic modal idiom of affecting simplicity, in a style that recalls the shorter chorales of Le Tombeau de Titelouze. The Gregorian Preludes are written on two staves with optional pedal, and are mostly restricted to three or four contrapuntal voices. 1) Salve Regina (Andante con moto) - in four-part imitative counterpoint. Méditation (1966) This modest little miniature from the composer’s 80th year was commissioned by the Americans Henry and Enid Woodward for their Library of Organ Music; written in an approachable idiom ideal for the amateur organist, it unfolds in a gentle Moderato, with elegant part-writing and deft touches of harmonic colour. Six Antiennes pour le temps de Noël, Op 48 This set of Six Antiphons from 1952 forms a kind of postscript to the better-known
collection of Fifteen Antiphons for Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (scheduled for release
in Vol 11 of this series), which Dupré had composed in 1919. The earlier sequence of
pieces had been precisely conceived for an elaborate Vesper service in which the plainsong
chants and antiphons were performed alternately by organ and choir, but after the passage
of some thirty years the practice of alternatim had fallen into disuse. The 1952
Antiphons are also intended for liturgical performance, but under much less specific
conditions; the Gregorian themes are selected from the traditional repertoire of Vesper
Antiphons from six different Sundays and Feast Days of the liturgical season of Christmas
(le temps de Noël), which runs from Advent through Christmas and Epiphany to the
Feast of the Purification at the beginning of February. Like the Gregorian Preludes,
this atmospheric music is very different from Dupré’s more spectacular concert
works; virtuosity and intellectual rigour are here replaced by quiet meditation and a
gently understated spirituality. The contours of the Gregorian melodies permeate all the
textures, and the composer’s art is concealed with natural, unassuming grace amid the
flowing contrapuntal lines and evocative harmonies of each of these contrasting pieces. Two Chorales, Op 59 Deuxième Symphonie, Op 26 This is the last of the three great symphonic works which Dupré composed during the 1920s; in harmonic language and technical wizardry it represents a striking advance on the first two (the Symphonie-Passion of 1924 and the Symphony for Organ & Orchestra of 1927). When he gave the premiere in New York on 30th September 1929, Dupré was making his first American appearance since his appointment as Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatoire three years earlier, and in this work he gives the impression of a composer at the height of his powers, secure in his inspiration and rejoicing in his own virtuosity. But this symphony is not about superficial display; behind the dazzling invention there are dark forces at work, and the ferocity of much the music disturbs and thrills in equal measure. The Preludio in C sharp minor immediately lays down the gauntlet in its dissonant opening flourish. The whole movement is constructed in a kind of modified sonata form, and the exposition introduces three strongly contrasted themes - an aggressive opening motif of two repeated notes followed by a downward rushing scale, a delicate, chattering étude for flutes, and a luscious chordal theme for strings. Only the first two themes are involved in the central development, where the repeated-note motif inspires a new march-like idea. The powerful rising modulations of the march propel the music to a torrential climax, which subsides into the reprise of the flute and the string passages from the exposition; but they are brusquely interrupted by the angry flourish and the modulating march, which suddenly erupts into a thunderous coda. The B minor Intermezzo takes the form of a theme and variations, based on a gentle dancing tune in a strange halting rhythm, with some quirky shifts of harmony reminiscent of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony. It is followed by three short variations, the first soft and delicate, with an intricate combination of duplets and triplets, the second more aggressive, with the introduction of the reeds, and the third a captivating dance for flute and piccolo with a rhythmic accompaniment for strings. The final Toccata in C sharp major is unconventional in the extreme. Beneath an insistent accompaniment of stabbing repeated chords (bare open fifths to start with, but more complex harmonies later on), a very rhythmic, rather jazzy tune is hammered out first by the left hand, and then by right hand and pedal in unison. The second subject group submerges the music in a torrent of cross-rhythms, with a reduction in dynamics but no relaxation of the tempo. An expressive, rather spooky solo for bass Clarinet provides a brief moment of repose before the Toccata explodes into life again, pursuing a headlong course to a tumultuous conclusion. Page revised Friday May 25 2007 |
