 |
| Quatuor Hanson (Jules Dussap, Simon Dechambre, Gabrielle Lafait, Anton Hanson ) |
Having already launched discs of quartets by Haydn (All Shall Not Die), Ligeti, Bartok, and Dutilleux (Not All Cats Are Gray) in addition to George Crumb’s Black Angels, the French ensemble, Quatuor Hanson, joined forces with soprano Marie-Laure Garnier and pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid to launch Chants nostalgiques on the b data label, that includes music by Chausson, Faure and Charlotte Sohy. The centrepiece of the disc is composer Franck Villard‘s transcription of Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer for voice, piano and string quartet, and the companion items characteristic Chausson’s Chanson perpetuel, Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson and Sohy’s Chants nostalgiques.
Anton Hanson, the primary violin within the quartet, explains that the repertoire for the disc was chosen very a lot in dialogue with Marie-Laure Garnier and Célia Oneto Bensaid. All six are associates, having identified one another since being college students on the Paris Conservatoire. The disc was supposed to characteristic the primary recording of Villard’s transcription of the Chausson Poème which Anton enjoys like this. He has performed within the unique orchestral model of the Poème and while you don’t get the operatic and symphonic sweep of the unique, the chamber model brings a number of freedom to the person strains. He describes the music as very linear, with a number of horizontal strains and it was pretty to attempt the flexibleness of the chamber transcription. Additionally, it’s uncommon to have such a large-scale piece for these small forces. Normally, they’re enjoying quick items or track cycles, however right here it’s a single lengthy sweep. It was a pleasant problem, having to inform a protracted story.
Alongside this, they positioned the work by Charlotte Sohy (1887-1955). A cousin of Louis Durey, from Les Six, and a good friend of Nadia Boulanger, Sohy studied with organ Alexandre Guilmant and Louis Vierne, and composition with Vincent d’Indy. Her Chants nostalgiques, setting texts by Cyprien Halgan, dates from 1910. It was a piece found by Célia Oneto Bensaid who has exploring music by ladies composers from the nineteenth and early Twentieth-century. Anton describes it as slightly curiosity, they learn it by way of at their first rehearsal and determined to incorporate it within the recording. For ladies of the interval, it was so tough to review composition that their music can typically appear somewhat educational, however Sohy’s is a bit avant-garde, out of the strange.
 |
| Quatuor Hanson (Photograph: Anne-Laure Lechat) Anton Hanson, Jules Dussap, Gabrielle Lafait, Simon Dechambre |
Gabriel Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson is solely nice French music and it’s so specific. The cycle of 9 songs setting texts by Paul Verlaine was initially written for the soprano Emma Bardac; Fauré was in love together with her, however she married Debussy! Anton explains that the quartet enjoys working with texts, and the truth that right here it’s in French helped their understanding, they did not want to review the unique textual content. And this brings a distinct really feel when performing the work, they’ve a stronger connection to the sung textual content. Fauré’s unique was for soprano and piano, and he later created a model for voice, piano and string quintet, however there are numerous variations in several keys relying on the voice sort. They tried a number of completely different ones, however listed here are enjoying Fauré’s personal model for mezzo-soprano, piano and string quartet.
The quartet already has a few of Chausson’s chamber music of their repertoire as they play the Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet. They haven’t but carried out Chausson’s String Quartet, partly as a result of it’s such an enormous piece. Chausson was nonetheless engaged on the quartet when he died (in a bicycle accident) in 1899 and the third and closing motion was accomplished by his good friend Vincent d’Indy. And Anton feedback that additionally relationship from the Nineties there’s a terrific piano quartet.
With Chausson’s music, Anton feels that it’s good to have French music that’s not antagonistic to the music of Richard Wagner. However although there’s plenty of affect from Wagner in Chausson’s works, he makes use of Wagner’s strategies otherwise. Anton describes the Poème as being a pleasant mixture of Wagner, Franck (Chausson’s instructor) and Saint-Saens! However his music stays slightly bit caught in time; due to his early demise (age 44) and no pupils, his type didn’t proceed and it was the somewhat completely different music of Debussy and Ravel that got here after him.
The quartet’s first recording was a double disc of quartets by Haydn on the Aparté label. This felt like a pure place to begin, as they’d performed Haydn because the quartet was first based and they’re at all times enjoying some Haydn. They get pleasure from bringing out the hidden hyperlinks between completely different items and completely different aesthetics, highlighting the nice continuity within the string quartet custom. There are even hyperlinks between Haydn and Bartok, one thing that they spotlight by having their second disc dedicated to quartets by Bartok, Ligeti and Dutilleux, additionally on the Aparté label.
Anton feedback that following Haydn, Beethoven launched a fantastic revolution in string quartet writing however the later Romantics primarily based their music on Beethoven’s somewhat than creating their very own revolution. Therefore the subsequent huge change in string quartet writing got here within the Twentieth century with composers like Bartok. And Ligeti’s string quartet has typically been known as Bartok’s seventh quartet, so it makes an apt companion on the disc. On the subject of Dutilleux, this brings a somewhat completely different manner of appreciating the Twentieth-century string quartet.
The quartet has additionally launched a dwell recording of George Crumb’s 1974-75 piece, Black Angels for electrified string quartet on the b data label. Anton describes this as being extra like music theatre, the gamers have to maneuver quite a bit and have a lot to do, typically with their complete physique and nothing like what you usually do in a live performance.
The ensemble performs plenty of Twentieth and Twenty first-century music together with works by Wolfgang Rihm and Matthias Pintscher. For Anton, it is vital that musicians must be related to what’s occurring now. That’s the reason they play music. They play Twentieth-century items figuring out their relation to the custom, and relate Twenty first-century works to these of Haydn. This additionally helps them to point out why Haydn’s music is sensible at present. In live performance, they like to combine issues, placing Haydn with Ligeti, performing Haydn, Rihm and Beethoven, bringing out the hyperlinks each ahead and backwards in time.
The quartet was based in 2013 and nonetheless has the 4 unique members. All of them began the identical 12 months on the Paris Conservatoire and performed chamber music collectively as college students and as associates, then began exploring with extra depth. They simply went on and are nonetheless right here! Recording plans embrace a disc of music for quartet and piano deliberate for 2024.
Anton doesn’t describe himself as a violin fanatic, his favorite orchestral instrument is not the violin. However he’s a fan of the repertoire and as a violinist counts himself fortunate that he can play most chamber music, all symphonic music, and opera, from Baroque to up to date. For every of the gamers within the quartet, it’s the quartet that’s their precedence although every has exterior initiatives as properly.
Anton takes on freelance orchestral enjoying, that is repertoire he loves and he would really feel annoyed if he was not capable of play the nice symphonic repertoire, and he suits performances in when he can. And the second violinist, Jules Dussap, additionally performs plenty of jazz. Three of the ensemble, Anton, Jules Dussap and cellist Simon Dechambre additionally do initiatives utilizing intestine strings which allows them to discover additional. He admits that the quartet is unlikely to experiment with intestine strings, in spite of everything, they like combined programmes and need to have the ability to carry out Haydn and Dutilleux or Rihm in the identical programme. However there’s tons to be taught from their expertise in enjoying on intestine strings, and bringing this expertise to bear on enjoying on trendy strings means they perceive that it isn’t what you play however the way you play it. Anton feels that it is a crucial expertise to transpose their understanding of enjoying Hadyn on intestine strings onto trendy devices.
Trying forward, they’re having a launch live performance for the Chants nostalgiques disc in Paris on 8 April 2023 at Le Bal Blomet. Then in Might, they’re making their first go to to Japan. Anton describes this as a pleasant shock; his dad and mom dwell in Japan, his mom is Japanese, his father has lived there for forty years and Anton was born there. Then they’ve a programme of pageant performances over the Summer time. There are plenty of festivals in France through the Summer time months, so the interval is at all times thrilling. The members of the quartet benefit from the little festivals because it offers them an opportunity to go and meet folks. Trying additional forward to 2024, they’ve one or two huge live shows in Paris lined up already.
By no means miss out on future posts by following us
The weblog is free, however I might be delighted if you happen to had been to point out your appreciation by shopping for me a espresso.
Elsewhere on this weblog
- An actual celebration of a maverick expertise: Snakebite! Stephen Montague at 80, at St John’s Smith Sq. – live performance overview
- A beautiful sense of poetry: Timothy Ridout in Lionel Tertis’ viola transcription of Elgar’s Cello Concerto – report overview
- That is my physique: Determine’s imaginative rethinking of Buxtehude’s intense sung devotion, Membra Jesu Nostri – live performance overview
- Imaginative programming, uncommon location, distinctive music-making: Nonclassical’s The Greenhouse Impact on the Barbican Conservatory – live performance overview
- Greater than only a rarity: Tchaikovsky’s first surviving opera, Oprichnik, will get a vibrant efficiency from Chelsea Opera Group – opera overview
- Late-Romantic environment & emotional turmoil: Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald will get a uncommon outing – opera overview
- Snakebite! composer Stephen Montague at 80 – interview
- Sending everybody away with a smile: Academy of Historical Music in Purcell and Locke – live performance overview
- Shifting harmonies & tonal instability: Kitty Whately & Joseph Middleton are sympathetic & communicative of their programme of late-Romantic lieder on Befreit: A Soul Surrendered – report overview
- When you hear it, I assure you will be seduced: Arne Nordheim’s The Tempest, Suite from the Ballet in a brand new recording from Bergen – report overview
- A journey by way of sound: wanting up | searching from a cellar filled with noise – a trumpet, a tuba & dwell electronics create a little bit of magic – report overview
- House
