Performers
- Trio Nebelmeer
- Artur Decaris violin
- Albéric Boullenois cello
- Loann Fourmental piano
Programme
Ernest Chausson Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 3 [32’]
I. Pas trop lent
II. Vite
III. Assez lent
IV. Animé
Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 92 [35’]
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto
III. Andante con moto
IV. Gracioso, poco allegro
V. Allegro non troppo
Concert description
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of French classical music are probably Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, then perhaps the so-called Group of Six, all of whom are typically counted among representatives of Impressionism and Neoclassicism characterized by delicacy, ephemerality, elegance, and humor.
However, it is worth noting that the road to achieving this kidn of sérénité – the combination of serenity with a light haze of melancholy – was not so simple. For several decades of the 19th century, French music remained strongly influenced by German artists. It was only in the works of César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns, and younger composers, Gabriel Fauré, and Ernest Chausson, that this music lost some of its dense harmony and became much lighter. The aspiration to create their own style can already be seen, for example, in the change of tempo markings – the older generation still used German names, while the younger one turned to French.
These composers, instead of greater complication of harmony (characteristic of German music), searched for unusual color effects, reached for modal scales, and by using popular dance rhythms, stayed closer to everyday life than to the world of ideas. Let’s take a look at the waltzes featured in the fourth movement of the Trio in E minor by Saint-Saëns as well as in the last movement by Chausson and at the second movement of the Trio in G minor with its almost ragtime style, which, after all, did not yet exist at the time!
– Dominika Micał, “Ruch Muzyczny”