For a long time the Opus 39
Pièce has been neglected, perhaps because of the simplicity of its title. It is a delicately worked, slow, contemplative elegy written with a refined sense of poetry, where the form is tinged with gentleness and the modulations are seamless. It dies away, morendo, like the sun setting on the horizon. Behind this apparent simplicity, however, Chausson subtly weaves the work into six sections, its broad rhythms and perfectly-judged sonorities intermingled with a craftsmanship that belies the art behind the art.
from notes by Jean Gallois © 1998
English: Celia Ballantyne
