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:
ADVERTISEMENT
Pristine Classical - bringing you DRM-free classical MP3 downloads
FAQ
FLAC downloads use lossless compression - when replayed or transferred to disc they are bit- identical to original recordings.
16 BIT files are at full CD resolution, identical to our CD masters.
24 BIT files are at higher, studio master resolution, identical to our finished master files.
Please ensure you can play our 24 bit FLAC files before purchase - try our test files here.
Not all media players support FLAC yet, so you may need to convert to WAV or AIFF before playback. See our FLAC help guide
FLAC downloads come as a series of tracks in a ZIP archive file.
Our MP3 files are encoded at very high variable bitrates using the LAME encoder or at 320kbps.
Each recording is presented as a single, long MP3 which can be split using the CUE sheet at the bottom of the page, adding track titles and other information.
CD writing programs such as Nero and Burrrn can write these files directly to CD with all track information added using MP3+CUE - see our tutorial
Alternatively a cue splitter program can automatically cut and name the MP3 into individual MP3 tracks
There are also media players which use the MP3+CUE system, allowing gapless playback of all long MP3 files - essential for opera and many other classical works
Save money when you buy several downloads together by using the following discount codes in the shopping cart:
Buy 5 or more - save 10%: Code: 85187052
Buy 10 or more - save 20%: Code: 12W07104
How To Use: Once you've made your selections, copy the correct code into the space marked Discount or Coupon Code in your shopping cart, then click the Update Cart button to apply the discount before heading to the checkout.
N.B. These discounts apply to all our FLAC and MP3 downloads only. Discounts do not apply to CD purchases
Our CDs are made to order on highest quality Taiyo Yuden Watershield CD-R discs, recorded directly from our master files
CDs are shipped worldwide by Air Mail from France. The price here includes all shipping costs - there are no hidden extras
Standard and Premium CDs hold the same quality of audio - the Standard CD comes in a slip case with no covers, the Premium comes in a jewel case with printed covers
Each music page has PDF covers for printing out at home
They can be found by clicking on cover artwork or scrolling to the bottom of the page
Always deselect any resizing options in the print dialogue of Adobe Reader before printing to ensure correct cover sizes
All payments are processed by PayPal, one of the world's biggest and most reliable global online payment services
You can pay by credit card directly with PayPal acting merely as a secure card payment processing facility
You can use a PayPal account for quicker, easier and totally secure payments
We do not recommend using the e-check option for download purchases as there is always a delay of 3-4 working days between purchase and receipt of goods while the check clears
Payments are charged in Euros and will be converted from other currencies at the current PayPal exchange rate
...very
likely Chausson's finest work... It is a tribute to the performance
to say that when the final note comes, 
