Germaine Tailleferre (1892 - 1983) was a French impressionist composer. She was the only female member of the famed group "Les Six" who aimed to transform the French music scene and succeeded. Her music is lyric, tuneful, and yet just out of reach somehow.
Sadly we hear nothing of her compositions now, preferring Satie or Poulenc. Both Satie and Poulenc can be 'heard' in her music but there is also a definite feminine touch there too, and her compositions are original and not in any way derivative. Her sounds are refreshing and creative.
The piece here, Concertino pour harpe et piano (1927) was originally composed as a short harp concerto with orchestra. But in this arrangement the harp part and the piano part (arranged from the orchestral score) work together much more intricately and I believe the piece benefits from this chamber scoring.
Composed with sensitivity, this nuanced writing is incredibly detailed and clever, and when there are just two instruments you can hear every note and indeed with it, every thought process too. The work is utterly impressionistic, but remains playful, tuneful, lyrical, harmonic, lush and emotional.
The final movement is a joyous rustic dance full of the joie-de-vivre and heart, whilst the first movement is thickly scored and intricate; a maze of complexity to enliven and invigorate the senses. The central lento passage then serves to act as a bridge between the two. A thoughtful and yet light "denkpause" bewteen the two more upbeat sections, making all three movemnts more meaningful because of it.
On this recording Gabriella Bosio played the harp and Cristina Ariagno was the pianist. I was thrilled that both artistes were female, as this seemed to enhance the femininity of the piece as a whole and brought out nuances that perhaps a male musician wouldn't have thought of.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2/7/20
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