Black Oak Ensemble • Avant l'orage French String Trios, 1926–1939 (2022) [24-96]

Artist: Black Oak Ensemble

Title: Avant l'orage: French String Trios, 1926–1939

Year Of Release: 2022

Label: Cedille

Genre: Classical

Quality: flac 24bits - 96.0kHz

Total Time: 02:07:26

Total Size: 2.25 gb



Tracklist



CD1

01. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: I. Prélude

02. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: II. Nocturne

03. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: III. Scherzo

04. Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement: IV. Final

05. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. —

06. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Lent

07. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Animé

08. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: IV. Très animé

09. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. Presto

10. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Adagio

11. Trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Final en forme de tarantelle

12. Trio à cordes: I. Allegretto vivo

13. Trio à cordes: II. Scherzo

14. Trio à cordes: III. Andante

15. Trio à cordes: IV. Rondo



CD2

01. Trio à cordes: I. Allegro con brio

02. Trio à cordes: II. Légende

03. Trio à cordes: III. Allegro aperto

04. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: I. Prélude

05. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: II. Française

06. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: III. Sarabande

07. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: IV. Divertissement

08. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: V. Musette

09. Suite en trio for Violin, Viola & Cello: VI. Forlane

10. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 1, Modéré, sans lenteur

11. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 2, Chanson

12. 3 Pièces en trio: No. 3, Les trois clercqs de Sainct-Nicholas



Black Oak Ensemble, the Chicago-based string trio with an international following, treats listeners to a double-album of stylish and often witty French treasures written between the World Wars.



The ensemble offers seven rarely heard delicacies from the 1920s and 30s, including world premiere recordings of trios by Henri Tomasi, Robert Casadesus, and Gustave Samazeuilh along with works by Jean Cras, Emile Goué, Jean Françaix, and Gabriel Pierné. Most were written for and dedicated to the virtuosic Trio Pasquier, which ranked among the era’s chamber music superstars.



Tomasi’s Mediterranean roots are heard in the Provençal folk melody referenced in his Trio à cordes en forme de divertissement, noted for its colorful, kaleidoscopic finale. Casadesus’s Trio à cordes combines fine craftsmanship and poetic sincerity. Samazeuilh, a disciple of Claude Debussy, wrote his Suite en trio in the form of a Baroque dance suite.



Celtic-infused folk music of his native Brittany emerges in Cras’s Trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle, as does an homage to Beethoven’s Op. 132 string quartet. Goué wrote his Trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle, energized with folk-dance elements, on the eve of his World War II army deployment. Françaix’s Trio displays his trademark textural clarity, agility, and sense of humor. Pierné’s Trois pièces en trio has even more fun with the listener with its satirical finale conjuring intoxicated, stumbling “fat cats” (actually an ironic reference to clerics/priests) out on the town.