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Track(s) taken from CDA67349

Danse des sylphes 'Caprice de concert', RO65 Op 86

composer
Op 31
arranger
? 1850/3; published in Mainz in 1877; after Godefroid; ed. N R Espadero as Op 86

Philip Martin (piano)
Recording details: May 2002
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: January 2003
Total duration: 8 minutes 58 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Brilliant and technically awesome … Philip Martin is never less than an extremely able and charming guide to this curious repertoire’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘There is a poignant period flavour to this music, which Martin captures with the utmost sensibility’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘It's impossible to listen to this disc and not beam with pleasure … real melodic charm, surprising harmonic progressions, and enough sensuality and humour to put a kick in the greyest of January days. The recorded sound is gorgeous’ (The Times)

‘Martin once again reveals his mastery of Gottschalk’s special brand of refined sensuality … for Gottschalk’s growing band of admirers, this is an essential purchase’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Philip Martin has the technical resources to do [Gottschalk] justice with straight-faced ease’ (The Irish Times)

‘Finely played and beautifully recorded’ (Pianist)

‘Volume 6 maintains the same impressive standards set in Philip Martin’s five previous Gottschalk releases on Hyperion … If you’ve been collecting this series, don’t stop now. A delectable disc’ (Classics Today)

‘Philip Lane is perfectly suited to Gottschalk's music and his interpretations are well nigh unsurpassable. The recording is firm and very realist with a touch of brittleness at the top. In sum, this is another gorgeous piano music collection from the underrated American composer’ (Classical.net)
The exact date of this brilliant and taxing piece is uncertain—either Paris 1850 or, more likely, New York 1855. In either case, Gottschalk never wrote it down and left it to his friend Espadero to issue the work posthumously in his own edition. Gottschalk was evidently taken by the music of the Belgian harpist Dieudonné Joseph Guillaume Félix Godefroid (1818–1897, whose brother Jules Joseph, 1811–1840, was also a noted harp player). Not only did he transcribe this popular harp solo (Danse des sylphes is Godefroid’s Op 31) but also Le Rêve (now lost), Godefroid’s Étude mélodique, Op 23, and La mélancolie, étude caractéristique, Op 24 (Gottschalk’s version appears as 167 in the RO catalogue, published in 1848 as ‘after F Godefroid’). The Caprice (in A flat) is a compendium of favourite Gottschalkian devices—scintillating runs at the top of the keyboard, passages for alternating hands, rapid repeated-note sections—a score to which Espadero adds liberal dashings of veloce e deciso and con impeto.

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2003

On ne sait pas exactement quand cette pièce brillante et exigeante a été composée: soit à Paris en 1850, soit, plus probablement, à New York en 1855. Quoi qu’il en soit, Gottschalk ne l’a jamais notée par écrit, laissant à son ami Espadero le soin de la faire paraître à titre posthume, dans sa propre édition. Gottschalk a de toute évidence été séduit par la musique du harpiste belge Dieudonné Joseph Guillaume Félix Godefroid (1818–1897, dont le frère Jules Joseph, 1811–1840, était aussi un harpiste renommé). Il a non seulement transcrit ce solo de harpe populaire (Danse des sylphes est l’opus 31 de Godefroid), mais aussi Le Rêve (aujourd’hui perdu), l’Étude mélodique, op. 23, et La mélancolie, étude caractéristique, op. 24 (la version de Gottschalk porte la référence 167 dans le catalogue RO, et est donnée comme publiée en 1848, «d’après F. Godefroid»). Le présent Caprice (en la bémol) est un abrégé des procédés favoris de Gottschalk—gammes étincelantes dans l’aigu du clavier, passages pour mains alternées, sections rapides en notes répétées—, une partition qu’Espadero émaille libéralement de veloce e deciso et de con impeto.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Nicholas © 2003
Français: Josée Bégaud

Das genaue Entstehungsdatum dieses brillanten und anspruchsvollen Stückes ist ungewiss—entweder entstand es in Paris im Jahre 1850 oder, was wahrscheinlicher ist, in New York 1855. Wie dem auch sei, Gottschalk notierte es nie, sondern hinterließ es seinem Freund Espadero, der es in seiner Ausgabe nach dem Tode Gottschalks veröffentlichte. Gottschalk war offenbar sehr beeindruckt von den Werken des belgischen Harfenisten Dieudonné Joseph Guillaume Félix Godefroid (1818–1897, dessen Bruder Jules Joseph, 1811–1840, war ebenfalls ein anerkannter Harfenspieler). Er bearbeitete nicht nur dieses populäre Harfensolo (Danse des sylphes ist Godefroids Op. 31), sondern auch Le Rêve (heute verschollen), Godefroids Étude melodique, Op.23, sowie La Mélancolie, étude charactéristique, Op. 24 (Gottschalks Fassung erscheint als Nr. 167 im RO-Katalog, herausgegeben 1848 als „nach F. Godefroid“). Das Caprice (in As-Dur) ist ein Kompendium der Lieblingsstilmittel Gottschalks—sprühende Läufe in den hohen Lagen der Klaviatur, Passagen für alternierende Hände, schnelle Tonrepetitionen—ein Notentext, das Espadero großzügig mit veloce e deciso und con impeto würzt.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Nicholas © 2003
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Gottschalk: The Complete Solo Piano Music
CDS44451/88CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
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