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Track(s) taken from CDA67100

Élégie, Op 143

composer

Philippe Graffin (violin), Pascal Devoyon (piano)
Recording details: January 1999
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: October 1999
Total duration: 4 minutes 57 seconds

Cover artwork: Les meules de foin à St Clement. Daniel de Monfreid (1856-1929)
Sotheby’s Picture Library
 

Reviews

‘Listen to this wonderful new disc from Philippe Graffin and Pascal Devoyon. From the turbulent emotions of the opening to the furiously driven moto perpetuo of the ultimately triumphant conclusion, they hold the listener spellbound … there is no doubt about the sheer pleasure which Graffin and Devoyon find in this music, with a performance enducing a wit and heartwarming intimacy that also extend to the smaller works … strongly recommended’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Fresh from the extraordinary success of his Saint-Saëns concertos, Philippe Graffin proves even more alluring in the French master's chamber music. This spellbinding performance had me lost in rapt concentration. The rarities that make up the rest of the disc are also sheer delight. A wonderful recording in every way’ (Classic CD)

‘Philippe Graffin is the sensitive violinist who often conveys a sense of rapture in this music. Pascal Devoyon is a splendid partner in this welcome recording’ (MDC Classical Express)

‘Graffin is one of the most elegant violinists of the younger generation, his performances of Saint-Saëns having that rare thistledown quality that creates a remarkable crystalline beauty … in passages of more substance, he is equally persuasive, despatching technical difficulties with consummate ease … in Devoyon, he has a partner that matches his radiant readings, the clarity of articulation complementing Graffin’s silvery tone’ (Yorkshire Post)
The two late Élégies are very different in character. Opus 143 (1915) is the more intimate, and from the first bars uses tonal ambiguity and continual modulation to create an unsettled, troubled atmosphere. The music develops free of formal restraints like, one imagines, one of the improvisations for which Saint-Saëns the organist was famous.

from notes by Duncan Druce © 1999

Les deux dernières Élégies sont d’un caractère très différent. L’opus 143 (1915), le plus intime, recourt dès les premières mesures à l’ambiguïté tonale et à la modulation incessante pour créer une atmosphère nerveuse, troublée. La musique se développe, affranchie de toute restriction formelle, semblable, imagine-t-on, à l’une de ces improvisations qui faisaient la réputation du Saint-Saëns organiste.

extrait des notes rédigées par Duncan Druce © 1999
Français: Hypérion

Die beiden späten Élégies sind vom Charakter her sehr unterschiedlich. Opus 143 (1915) ist das intimere Stück und nutzt von den ersten Takten an tonale Zweideutigeit und ständige Modulation, um eine rastlos aufgewühlte Atmosphäre zu schaffen. Die Musik entfaltet sich frei von formalen Beschränkungen, wie man es sich bei einer der Improvisationen vorstellt, für die Saint-Saëns als Organist berühmt war.

aus dem Begleittext von Duncan Druce © 1999
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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