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Track(s) taken from CDA67453

Marche funèbre d'une marionnette

composer
arranger

Laurence Perkins (bassoon), New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: July 2003
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Will Brown & Simon Eadon
Release date: November 2004
Total duration: 4 minutes 40 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Laurence Perkins (bassoon), Michael Hancock (piano)

Reviews

‘One of the jolliest CDs to have crossed my desk in ages … the indefatigable Perkins has assembled some genuine rarities for our delight’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘Perkins is a compelling advocate of the instrument, not only in his painstaking work as orchestrator and arranger, and his enthusiastic and well-researched booklet notes, but most of all in his playing … this is a delightful disc which will be of interest to a much wider audience than merely the bassoon-crazy’ (International Record Review)

‘Perkins is an excellent bassoonist who managed to collect some interesting and unusual pieces for his instrument, arranging others himself. His enthusiasm for the repertoire and the bassoon itself are immediately apparent. He plays with a spontaneity that makes us entirely forget technique, so that we never feel like we are witnessing a feat of bravura. His beautiful sound and effortless dexterity all work towards making the music gently caress the ear’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘I admire Perkins' playing very much; it is expressive and highly polished’ (Classical Music Web)

‘The playing here is not just comical (where required), it's also very beautiful—a lovely example of music-making’ (Manchester Evening News)
The gently humorous Funeral March of a Marionette, by Charles-François Gounod, one of France’s greatest and most prolific composers of the nineteenth century, has enjoyed an ongoing popularity ever since it was first created as a piano solo in 1872. Gounod orchestrated the piece in 1879, and it is on this orchestral version that my present arrangement is based. The work’s association with the bassoon goes back a long way – I have an old recording of the piece played as a bassoon solo, dating from around the time of the First World War. However, the piece achieved widespread fame as the Alfred Hitchcock signature tune in the 1950s, an appropriate choice given the nature of the music with its dark humour.

from notes by Laurence Perkins © 2004

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