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Contents:
The instrumental combination of flute and harp is one that has fascinated composers over the centuries, and although there is not so much original music written for the medium as one might at first expect, there is equally sufficient to give credence to such a view and material which transcribes admirably for the natural combination of these essentially sylvan instruments. At the head of the original works for flute and harp stands, of course, the exceptional Concerto for Flute Harp and Orchestra in C major K 299, by Mozart, written in 1778, a work that is transfixed by a surpassingly beautiful slow movement. We might expect Mozart, of all composers, to rise to the occasion in terms of musical inspiration, and he does not disappoint us here, but it is surely the case that the combination of flute and harp is essentially chamber-musical in that the two instruments complement one another in a way that other combinations of wind instrument and harp do not. It is also interesting to note that with the addition of a third (often stringed) instrument the combination of flute and harp is further enhanced. There are a number of original compositions – especially by 20th-century composers – for flute, viola and harp (the greatest (perhaps) being Debussy’s magnificent late Sonata from 1915), a texture which combines these essentially gentle instruments quite superbly. There is a characteristic of the combination of flute and harp which suggests an almost Gallic charm, and in our collection of music we include a number of works by French composers. Our programme in this recital is made up entirely of original transcriptions for flute and harp, but despite what has been said earlier, we are here confronted by a series of works of wide range, from traditional folk-based music to 18th-century compositions leading to art music from the 20th-century. Thus we can hear in this medium, music that traverses the centuries, which also does not avoid contrast. We begin with five of Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (Songs Without Words), a wondrous collection, originally for solo piano, comprising 48 brief pieces. These are amongst the most attractive of all of Mendelssohn’s shorter works, and were greatly admired throughout the 19th-century, when the music could be found in the homes of all music-lovers. Of these five, only the third Wiegenlied (Cradle Song) has a separate title. The songs of Mozart are, rather surprisingly, amongst the least-known part of his vast output, but they lend themselves admirably to the instrumental revisions we hear in this programme with implications from the original texts. The great Russian composer Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky was a lifelong admirer of Mozart’s music, and in his opera Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades), he inserts a pastoral divertissement in rococo style in Act II, presaged in Act I by this endearing Romanze. Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame appeared in 1890, at the time of the rise of the verismo school of Italian operatic composers – a faction which set stories more in keeping with contemporary life – one of the most successful examples being Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) by Pietro Mascagni which was also premiered in 1890. Set in Sicily, we have two very famous pieces from the score, music which is familiar to many music-lovers outside of the opera-house. The opera Don Quichotte by the French composer Jules Massenet was first heard in 1910, in Monte Carlo, two years before his demise. Described as a comédie héroïque, and based upon Cervantes’ famous novel, this original piece of instrumental music paints a delightful picture of the lovable old rogue, now seemingly at peace with the world. We follow this with four more of Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (Songs Without Words), concluding with the world-famous Venetian Gondoliers’ Song. These are succeeded by a selection of four songs – originally with words, of course, for voice and piano – which arrangements draw attention to the inherent character of the emotional content of each song and the distinctive melodic line which marks out the French composer Gabriel Fauré as one of the greatest masters of the genre of his day. The 20th-century composer and pianist Francis Poulenc became one of the famous Les Six – a group of French composers rather arbitrarily collected together by a music-critic after World War I. The six composers did not constitute a ‘movement’ as such, nor was the epithet justified on aesthetic grounds, but it stuck – thankfully, they remained friends throughout their lives. Poulenc also formed a recital duo with the tenor Pierre Bernac, another close friend, for whom he composed, and with whom he recorded, many songs. This song, À sa Guitare, with its Spanish inflexions, was originally written for voice and harp in 1935 to words by the 16th century writer Pierre de Ronsard. Genuine Spanish music can be found throughout the work of Manuel de Falla, whose Seven Spanish Popular Songs are the most famous of the various songs he composed. From this set, we hear the haunting Berceuse (Cradle Song) – ‘Nana’. The Soneta a Córdoba, is a song from a poem by Luis de Góngora, originally composed for voice and harp. The great composer and pedagogue Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is remembered equally in his native Russia as a composer of operas as well as of brilliant orchestral music for the concert hall, and amongst the latter part of his output is the immortal symphonic suite Scheherazade, a re-telling of Arabian Nights tales. In this extract from the score – the haunting Arabian Song – the composer’s genius in creating evocative music is shown at its most impressive. Finally, we turn to folk music from Romania. Folk music of whatever ethnicity has always lent itself to transcription and arrangement for which ever instruments were to hand. This lullaby, followed by a drinking song ‘Who’s put the pub in my way?’, brings our recital to its conclusion. © Robert Matthew-Walker, 2007
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