Germaine Tailleferre - Revived Piano Works, Vol. 1 (Nicolas Horvath)

Information

Composer: Germaine Tailleferre

1. Exercice d'harmonie (Chant donné par Florent Schmitt)
2. Impromptu in E Major for Piano
3. Romance in A Major for Piano
4. Pas trop vite for Piano
5. Pastorale in D Major for Piano
6. Fandango for Piano
7. Hommage à Debussy
8. Très vite
9. Jean-Baptiste Lully - La naissance de Vénus, LWV 27, Pt. 2: Grand dieu des enfers (arr. Tailleferre)
10. Jean-Baptiste Lully - Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, LWV 41: Répands, charmante nuit (arr. Tailleferre)
11. Jean-Baptiste Lully - Le triomphe de l'amour, LWV 59: Air pour la jeunesse (arr. Tailleferre)
12. Francesco Mancini - Son confusa pastorella (arr. Tailleferre)
13. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - Salustia (arr. Tailleferre): Per queste amare lagrime
14. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - Salustia (arr. Tailleferre): Soleva il traditore
15. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - Salustia (arr. Tailleferre): Il nocchier nella tempesta
16. Leonardo Leo - Demetrio (arr. Tailleferre): Piano): Sò che per gioco
17. Leonardo Leo - Demetrio (arr. Tailleferre): Vorrei dai lacci
18. Gaetano Latilla - La pena che m'affanna (arr. Tailleferre)
19. Johann Adolph Hasse - Spero si ch'amor (arr. Tailleferre)
20. Claudio Monteverdi - Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, SV 325: Duri, e penosi (arr. Tailleferre)
21. Domenico Mazzocchi - La catena d'Adone: Lieti in grembo (arr. Tailleferre)
22. Michelangelo Rossi - Plainte d'Erminia (arr. Tailleferre)
23. Michel Lambert - Airs à 1-4 parties: Il n'est point d'amour sans peine (arr. Tailleferre)
24. Alessandro Scarlatti - Comodo Antonino (arr. Tailleferre): Son lo scherzo
25. Alessandro Scarlatti - Comodo Antonino (arr. Tailleferre): Cara e dolce rimembranza
26. Flavio Lanciani - Gran pena amar lontane (arr. Tailleferre)
27. André Cardinal Destouches - Les élémens (arr. Tailleferre): Songez à faire usage
28. André Cardinal Destouches - Les élémens (arr. Tailleferre): Tendre amour
29. Louis-Nicolas Clerambault - Cantates françoises, Book 3, No. 1, Apollon: Ce n'est point pour servir (arr. Tailleferre)
30. Michel Pignolet de Montéclair - Cantates à voix seule, Book 1, No. 2, Le triomphe de la constance: Ne cédons point à l'inconstance (arr. Tailleferre)
31. Jean-Joseph Mouret - Le triomphe des sens: Illustre et cher époux (arr. Tailleferre)
32. François-André Danican Philidor - Sancho Pança dans son isle: Il fallait le voir au village (arr. Tailleferre)
33. Sous le rempart d'Athènes (Version for Piano)
34. Sicilienne for Piano
35. Pastorale in A-Flat Major for Piano
36. Pastorale in C Major for Piano
37. Fleurs de France: No. 1, Jasmin de Provence
38. Fleurs de France: No. 2, Coquelicot de Guyenne
39. Fleurs de France: No. 3, Rose d'Anjou
40. Fleurs de France: No. 4, Tournesol du Languedoc
41. Fleurs de France: No. 5, Anthémise du Roussillon
42. Fleurs de France: No. 6, Lavandin de Haute-Provence
43. Fleurs de France: No. 7, Volubilis du Béarn
44. Fleurs de France: No. 8, Bleuet de Picardie
45. Pastorale Inca
46. Pastorale Amazone
47. Berceuse in E-Flat Major for Piano
48. Suite dans le style Louis XV: I. Allegro
49. Suite dans le style Louis XV: II. Andante
50. Suite dans le style Louis XV: III. Vif
51. Suite dans le style Louis XV: IV. Lent
52. Suite dans le style Louis XV: V. Allegro
53. Marche funèbre for Piano
54. Au pavillon d'Alsace: I. Moderato
55. Au pavillon d'Alsace: II. Allegro

Nicolas Horvath, piano

Date: 2022

Label: Grand Piano

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Review

Germaine Tailleferre was the only female member of the group of composers known as Les Six (others included Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud), and lived something of the vie bohéme in Paris in the 1920s. We know that she composed mainly at the piano, which makes it hard to know how many of her works were ‘sketches’ or starting points for other music: this Grand Piano disc has 55 tracks, some of which belong together in groups, such as ‘Fleurs de France’ (1930), Suite dans le style Louis XV, and transcriptions of works by Monteverdi, Lully, Scarlatti and others.

Tailleferre, though a modest, thoughtful person, showed her sense of rebellion during her teens by changing her name from ‘Taillefesse’ as a deliberate slight to her father, who had discouraged and failed to support her musical aspirations. Unfortunately, though, she never regained in later life the acclaim she had enjoyed through her early associations with Les Six. Two unhappy marriages (to the caricaturist Ralph Barton in 1926 and to the lawyer Jean Lageat in 1931) proved a considerable drain on her creative energies, and her continual financial problems led her to compose mostly to commission, resulting in many uneven and quickly written works. Also, her natural modesty and unjustified sense of artistic insecurity prevented her from promoting herself properly, something in which, in that era, her male colleagues were far more adept.

For too long, Tailleferre’s work has been cruelly neglected. The Monaco-born pianist Nicolas Horvath has become a great champion, and his versatility lends itself to the many aspects of her musical personality. She switches from diatonic to bitonal, from neo-classical to progressive, from rhythmic and familiar to irregular and dissonant, and we can perceive influences on this disc as wide-ranging as Fauré, Ravel and Stravinsky. Horvath encompasses all these stylistic complexities with technical and musical assurance, and proves a great advocate.

Some of the tracks contain pieces which are either harmonic exercises (e.g. track 1), while others are fairly straightforward transcriptions (e.g. the ‘Petites ouvertures d’airs anciens’). But in amongst these are many works of vivid character, such as the Fandango (track 6), or the lovely ‘Pastorale in C’, where the influence of Francis Poulenc can be felt keenly in the deliciously faux-naïf melodic writing. Harder to like is the strange Sous le rampart d’Athènes, written at the behest of the poet Paul Claudel to accompany a ‘philosophical dialogue’ he had written. It is an uncharacteristically solemn piece, dominated by lengthy trills and dark statements. Horvath does his very best with it.

But most of the music here is well worth hearing. There is a pleasantly crazy Pastorale Inca (Tailleferre seems to have had a particular liking for the term ‘Pastorale’), and the last two tracks are very engaging, containing a Moderato and an Allegro with the title ‘Au pavillon d’Alsace’. The first of these, a relaxed waltz with a slightly jazzy feel, is the only number where I found Horvath not quite convincing – he is rather wooden, and the music fails to swing as it should. A small blemish, and he follows that up with a brilliant final Allegro.

A fine disc which displays the enormous breadth of Tailleferre’s achievement, and celebrates her outstanding musical gifts. I look forward to the next volume in this exciting series.

-- Gwyn Parry-Jones

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Germaine Tailleferre (19 April 1892 – 7 November 1983) was a French composer. She studied piano with her mother at home, at the Paris Conservatory where she met other members of Les Six, and with Maurice Ravel at his home in Montfort-l'Amaury. Despite facing opposition from her father and first husband, Tailleferre still pursued her passion and became a successful composer. Her music is often characterized by a light and playful style, with influences from neoclassicism and French Impressionism. Her most important works include the First Piano Concerto, the Harp Concertino, ballets and film scores.

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Nicolas Horvath (born 1977 in Monaco) is a French pianist and electroacoustic composer. He began his studies at the Académie de Musique Prince Rainier III de Monaco and spent three summers at Aspen Music Festival and School. His mentors include such artists as Gabriel Tacchino, Philippe Entremont, Oxana Yablonskaya and Leslie Howard. Horvath is known for his musical explorations and is an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music. His discography includes works by Philip Glass, Erik Satie, Jaan Rääts, Alvin Lucier, Carl Czerny, Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy, Claude Debussy and Hélène de Montgeroult.

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