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Track(s) taken from CDA67255/6

Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn

composer
1932/9

The Nash Ensemble
Recording details: January 1999
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: November 1999
Total duration: 17 minutes 32 seconds
 

Reviews

‘An altogether first-class collection of Poulenc's very individual chamber music output played with real sensitivity … outstanding performances. The whole issue wins my enthusiastic recommendation: it bids fair to become the undisputed yardstick for the future’ (Gramophone)

‘A set which will surely and deservedly be popular’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Thoroughly excellent’ (The Observer)

‘Entrancing. It's hard to select the choicest treasures from this jewel box of Poulenc's most witty and vivacious, hauntingly melodic and touchingly heartfelt music, especially when it is played with such effervescence and devotion as here. The two masterpieces are the Sextet for Piano and Winds (1932) and the delectable "Mozartian" Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon, played with dashing elan and soulful lyricism by the pianist Ian Brown and the Nash's brilliant wind principals. Richard Watkins's long-breathed account of the moving Elégie in memoriam Dennis Brain (1957) and Paul Watkins's noble-toned playing of the Cello Sonata (1940/48) are exceptional. But there is rapture, elation, zany high spirits in all of this music, dazzlingly played by the Nash Ensemble. Buy, buy, buy!’ (The Sunday Times)

‘It would be hard to imagine more consistently on-target presentations of Poulenc’s chamber music or more appropriate sound reproduction. Highly recommended’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Thirteen pieces lovingly brought to life by the Nash Ensemble. For once, the word 'jewel-box' for the CD container sounds about right’ (BBC CD Review)

‘Those who treasure performances of this music should hear this recording to discover the insights which the very best of today's musicians bring to these scores’ (Classical Express)
Begun in 1932, the Sextet for piano and wind instruments was not completed until 1939. Its basic form is that of the Trio. A motto theme, first heard for wind alone, recurs in all three movements. In the central Divertissement, a lyrical slow movement and its modified repetition enclose a rather perky middle section. The finale roams chromatically in many and distant keys, but ends in ten bars of an adulterated C major.

from notes by Felix Aprahamian © 1999

Entrepris en 1932, le Sextuor pour piano et instruments à vents ne fut achevé qu’en 1939. Sa forme de base est celle du Trio. Un motif conducteur, entendu d’abord aux vents seuls, revient dans chacun des trois mouvements. Le Divertissement central voit un lyrique mouvement lent, et sa répétition modifiée, entourer une section médiane assez gaie. Le finale erre chromatiquement en maintes tonalités lointaines, mais s’achève en dix mesures d’un ut majeur frelaté.

extrait des notes rédigées par Felix Aprahamian © 1999
Français: Hypérion

Das 1932 begonnene Sextett für Klavier und Blasinstrumente lag erst 1939 fertig vor. Seine Grundform ist die gleiche wie die des Trios. Ein Leitthema, das zunächst nur von den Bläsern dargeboten wird, wiederholt sich in allen drei Sätzen. Im zentralen Divertissement rahmen ein lyrischer langsamer Satz und seine abgewandelte Wiederholung einen recht kecken Mittelteil ein. Das Finale schweift chromatisch in viele, unter anderem auch entlegene Tonarten ab, endet jedoch mit zehn Takten in ungetrübtem C-Dur.

aus dem Begleittext von Felix Aprahamian © 1999
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

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