Prélude, marine et chanson, for flute, harp, violin, viola & cello
Joseph Guy Ropartz: is he another Maurice Ravel -- or just another Albéric Magnard? Is Ropartz, like Ravel, a contemporary of Debussy who courageously struck out on his own original approach to music, or is he like Magnard -- or, for that matter, like Caplet, d'Indy, Schmitt, and a half-dozen other minor French composers of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century -- just another contemporary of Debussy who stubbornly stuck with the highly chromatic harmonic language of the fin de siècle, and thus never ...
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Joseph Guy Ropartz: is he another Maurice Ravel -- or just another Albéric Magnard? Is Ropartz, like Ravel, a contemporary of Debussy who courageously struck out on his own original approach to music, or is he like Magnard -- or, for that matter, like Caplet, d'Indy, Schmitt, and a half-dozen other minor French composers of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century -- just another contemporary of Debussy who stubbornly stuck with the highly chromatic harmonic language of the fin de siècle, and thus never broke into the international big time. More like the latter than the former, one has to admit. This doesn't mean Ropartz's music is no good. As this lovely disc shows, his music is beautifully wrought, deeply felt, and sometimes even quite moving. His Piano Trio from 1914 is a large-scale, four-movement work with enormous energy and immense emotion. The String Trio from 1934-1935 is a smaller-scale four-movement work with a slightly more reserved tone but no less control over the...
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