Frank Martin - Ballades for Piano, Trombone, Viola, Cello, Saxophone and Flute (Matthias Bamert)

Information

Composer: Frank Martin

1. Ballade for Piano and Orchestra
2. Ballade for Trombone and Orchestra
3. Ballade for Cello and Small Orchestra
4. Ballade for Saxophone and Orchestra
5. Ballade for Viola, Wind, Harp, Harpsichord, Timpani, Percussion and Orchestra
6. Ballade for Flute, String Orchestra and Piano

Roderick Elms, piano

Ian Bousfield, trombone

Peter Dixon, cello

Martin Robertson, saxophone

Philip Dukes, viola

Rachel Masters, harp

Celia Chambers, flute

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Matthias Bamert, conductor

Date: 1995

Label: Chandos

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Review

The collection of Ballades is, for me, the 'Prince' among these five Chandos discs. Substantial single movement essays provide an ideal medium for Martin's Lutheran-tempered (if not subdued) voice. When he uses voices (especially solo singers) he can tend towards an unvariegated recitative as the story is told. This can infer monotony. The Piano Ballade is typically subtle with overtones of Ravel and a dramatic smash and swing to its finale. The Trombone accentuates the chansonnier rather than the buffoon in its short and lyrical episode.

Do not look for an unbridled ecstasy in Martin. His religious convictions (manifest in the music) do not permit the sort of religious exaltation that crosses the divide into fleshly joys. Martin might thus be compared to Herbert Howells but a Howells with a sombre Gallic accent and purged of the Delian abandon that shakes the rafters and galleries in Missa Sabrinensis and Hymnus Paradisi.

The Cello Ballade could easily partner Edmund Rubbra's Soliloquy and Nicolas Flagello's Capriccio (1962) both for cello and orchestra. It is given a rhythmic jolt by an ostinato that Martin may have encountered in Sibelius's Nightride and Sunrise. The shades are Dutch Master ochres and are perfectly matched to the natural tones of the cello and its inclination to profundity and wonder.

The tightly bunched French tone of the solo in the Saxophone Ballade is contrasted with string writing taking us to the chillier passages in Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony. The Viola Ballade's accents are oriental with a dash of Stravinsky along the way - perhaps a linkage with Pribaoutki and the Japanese Songs. The neatly chiselled Flute Ballade adopts a Ravel-like approach and mixes it with the engaging chatter of Nielsen's Flute Concerto.

Decca have recorded some of the Ballades before. Those for Piano, Trombone, Saxophone and Flute are coupled with the Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion and Strings on Decca 444 455-2DH. The Royal Concertgebouw are conducted by Riccardo Chailly. The solo team includes some of the most celebrated virtuosos of the age including John Harle and Christian Lindberg as well as Roland Brautigam.

The fact is however that Chandos have the most natural and generous of couplings and this and the inherent musical values of the music and its performance make this a preferred choice.

— Rob Barnett

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Frank Martin (15 September 1890 – 21 November 1974) was a Swiss composer. Born in Geneva, he studied under Joseph Lauber and Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. He served as president of the Swiss Musicians' Union (1943–1946) before moving to the Netherlands. A performer as well as a composer, Martin toured widely as a pianist and harpsichordist. His compositions blended German influences, especially Bach, with French harmonic innovations. Notable works include the oratorios Le Vin herbé and Golgotha, the opera Der Sturm, and a Requiem, along with numerous concertos, orchestral and chamber works.

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Matthias Bamert (born July 5, 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer. He studied music in his native Switzerland, as well as in Darmstadt and Paris, with Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Bamert's conducting career began in North America as an apprentice to George Szell and later as assistant conductor to Leopold Stokowski. He has served as music director of the Swiss Radio Orchestra from (1977–83), London Mozart Players (1993–2000), Western Australian Symphony (2003–07), Malaysian Philharmonic (2005–08), and the Sapporo Symphony (2018–2024). Bamert has made over 60 recordings.

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