Pièces

"Flee the storms" - this motto of classical artists, Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) places it at the heart of his music for four-handed piano, who prefers to the rumbling of passions the balance of proportions, the eclecticism of good taste, the charm and delicacy. Les Berceuses is part of the French tradition of children's stories illustrated by Dolly de Fauré and Ma mère l'Oye de Ravel. These seven pieces evoke with refinement the happiness of a cloudless day, the effervescence that reigns on Christmas Eve, or the gentle syncopated swing of a young Creole, Selfiana. Carl Reinecke's Childish Variations to a Melody show a free and whimsical vein, while the Three Preludes to Irish Airs draw on the pure sources of popular music, borrowing their thematic material from the famous collection Songs of Old Ireland published in 1882 by Stanford. First published according to a handwritten source, Charles Levadé's Variations on a theme end on an unbridled grid that takes the heroes of the festival to the nearest inn. The finely carved 1896 Aria and Sheepfold Room, revives the atmosphere of pastoral work dear to the 17th century. This music with its infinite charm revives Orpheus' voice, as Jankelevich heard it: subjugating without violence, it "pacifies the monsters of instinct and tame the beasts of passion".