PASC049:
Concerto in D major for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op.21
- Chausson
MP3
price
Louis
Kaufman (violin)
Artur Balsam (piano)
The Pascal Quartet:
Jacques
Dumont (violin I)
Maurice
Crut (violin II)
Leon
Pascal (viola)
Robert
Salles (cello)
Recorded
in 1951, released as Concert Hall CHS-1071
Download ID: 213472
(Duration
37'50")
Play
sample movement:
...very
likely Chausson's finest work... It is a tribute to the performance
to say that when the final note comes,
we are not exhausted; we are inspired...
- Bill Rosen
The early
years of the 1950s saw the launch of a new music carrier - the Long Playing
disk - whose success was by no means certain. For one thing it required
the customer to make a considerable investment in new playback equipment.
Secondly, the available catalogue was tiny. Third, a format war had broken
out between the 33.3 rpm long-playing disk and its rival, the 45 rpm disk
with a playing time much closer to that of existing 78rpm shellac disks.
(VHS / Betamax; Blu-Ray / HD-DVD; doesn't the industry know exactly how
to shoot itself in the foot?)
In such
a situation you'd think that record companies would concentrate on releasing
potboilers, warhorses, and the good old 'popular classics', in an attempt
to seduce the record-buying public to accept the new format and to recoup
their investment. And some companies did just that. What is very surprising
however is the number of unfamiliar or 'difficult' works that became swiftly,
and uniquely, available on LP. Small independent labels were often at
the forefront of this. One thinks, for example, of Westminster, Vox, and
the Concert Hall Society. It is from this latter company that our recording
of the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet - a composition
hardly in the forefront of the classical music repertoire - originates.
"One
of the most unusual works in chamber music", states the LP sleeve
note. "This curious work", is how The Record Guide describes
it. What are we to make of it?
At first
sight we seem to have a piano sextet. However it is clearly titled a "concerto"
- and not merely for one but for two soloists! Perhaps we have a double
concerto a la Brahms, with a micro-mini-orchestra? Perhaps the two soloists
are to have a role, as it were, in opposition to the quartet? Chausson's
instrumentation is unique: no other work (I believe) comprises solo piano,
solo violin, first violin, second violin, viola, and 'cello. Other composers
of sextets typically add weight to the familiar quartet format with, for
example, an extra viola and 'cello (Brahms); and the closest work I can
find that comes to Chausson's choice is that of the Mendelssohn sextet
Op. 110 of 1824: one violin, two violas, 'cello, double bass, piano. But
three violins out of six players?
In Chausson's
selection lies the unique strengths of this work - and its problems. The
Sicilienne is undoubtedly lovely. But at full blast in the outer movements
the high strings can shriekily dominate the sound and there Chausson is
forced to use the piano, not as a virtuoso soloist, but instead relegated
to playing left-hand octaves along with the 'cello, trying to provide
some counterbalancing bass depth. One wonders what the pianist thinks
of his 'soloist' role here?
Chausson
is often referred to as a composer who bridges Franck and Debussy and
though he was student of the one, and mentor to the other, in this work
he mostly harks back to the more stolid earlier Franckian structures as
evidenced by the three chords that open - and form the base for - the
first movement. Yet there is certainly much originality in the piece and
one wonders what he might have gone on to write had his short compositional
career not been ended so early (by a bicycle accident).
For this
transfer and restoration we used disks both from the original US Concert
Hall Society issue and from the UK Nixa issue. The Concert Hall disk interestingly
labels itself as "continuous recording". This claim becomes
doubtful when one encounters a couple of dreadful and very evident tape
edits (corrected here by us). Then one realizes that they probably meant
"continuous playback" since in 1951 most people were still used
to their listening being interrupted every four minutes by side changes,
and to have over twenty continuous minutes of music was a novelty. There
is a moment of distortion (much minimized in the restoration but not,
I fear, inaudible) which occurs on both pressings and we conclude that
it's probably on the original master.
Well, it's
a curious work, indeed. We hope that you will be curious enough to try
it!
Notes
by Peter Harrison
Chausson:
Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet Kaufman, Balsam, Pascal String
Quartet) (1951)
Ernest
Chausson, though very talented, comfortable financially and
highly esteemed by musicians such as Cesar Franck and Claude
Debussy, was a melancholy and introverted man. He was a gifted
painter and also took a law degree. In spite of all this,
he was unsure of the quality of his music and composed slowly
and painfully. All of his works are deeply sensual and have
a kind of French Wagnerian quality, although Chausson had
a love-hate relationship with Wagner.
The
Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, very likely
Chausson's finest work, is difficult to classify. It is not
a concerto for violin or piano or both, although these instruments
carry the themes and there is considerable virtuosity required
from both. It is certainly not a sextet because the quartet
acts too much the in role of accompaniment. Let us say the
form is perfect for the work's content. The long and powerful
first movement begins with three loud chords, which are the
motif of the composition and repeated in the last movement.
There is an extended introduction and then the violin gives
out the beautiful first theme unrolling over endless piano
arpeggios. The second movement is a short intermezzo with
an archaic flavor. The heart and soul of the Concert lies
in the slow movement where the piano begins with a sorrow-laden
series of notes and the mood ultimately moves from tragedy
to acceptance. The final movement is vigorous and subjects
the main theme to numerous variations until the motto theme
from the Concert's start comes in with power to conclude the
work .
There
are many fine recordings of this work, but I can recall none
which have affected me as deeply as this one. The sweet, golden,
commanding tone of Louis Kaufman sets the pace. The discipline
and iron French elegance of the Pascal String Quartet hold
the work in place and do not permit rhetoric to intrude on
beauty and passion, as is sometimes the case in this work.
Artur Balsam is not quite in the same class, but his steadiness
and ability to integrate his piano sound are vital. It is
a tribute to the performance to say that when the final note
comes, we are not exhausted; we are inspired.
It
remains only to say that the sound created by Peter Harrison
is superb mono: clear, detailed, rich and appropriately sensuous.
Download
our Illustrated Catalogue Complete
catalogue of recordings, fully indexed by composer and performer,
with links to website pages
Restoration
by Peter Harrison:
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