Aria in Classical Style (1944) Grandjany

Born into a musical family in Paris, Grandjany began harp studies at eight, developing so rapidly that he was soon admitted to the Conservertoire, winning the school’s premier prix at the precocious age of 14. He was recognized as a harp virtuoso while still a teenager. Apart from his faultless technique he was noted for the sheer sensuous beauty of the sound produced by his unusual spatula-shaped fingertips. In 1921 he joined the faculty of the American Conservatory, which led to his settling in New York in 1936. He taught at Juilliard from 1938 until a few weeks before his death. Grandjany’s influence as a teacher was immense, and his many solo and ensemble works for harp are challenging and elegantly crafted, as is the engaging Aria we hear this afternoon.

Impromptu Opus 86 (1904) Fauré

This piece was dedicated to Alphonse Hasselman, the Belgian born professor of harp, who had played a major role in the revival of interest in the instrument. While exploring many aspects of harp technique, the Impromptu retains Fauré’s characteristic bright and supple style, tempered with a strain of delicately veiled poetry. The Impromptu has become the work with which harpists skills, technically and artistically, are measured.

Conte Fantastique (1919) Caplet

André Caplet entered the Paris Conservertoire in 1896 and by 1901 had won the Prix de Rome, ahead of Ravel, as a composer, and was also gaining a reputation as a conductor for subtle and authoritative performances. The 1914 war brutally interrupted his promising career. Caplet was wounded and gassed, the effects of which irrevocably compromised his robust Norman health and cut short the most fertile of his creative years. He died at the age of 46.

The Conte Fantastique for harp and strings, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”, was published in 1919 but was based on a symphonic study from 1907. Perhaps Caplet’s premonition in 1908, that Europe was dancing on a volcano in a state of precarious reprieve similar to that of the tale’s young prince and his guests, influenced his choice of this work. In it he liberates the harp from its traditional role of being purely pastoral, decorative and decorous. The work derives much from his earlier association with Debussy as well as from his later fascination with the chromaticism of Schoenberg. Here he convincingly recreates the somber, anguishing atmosphere of Poe’s story — the chiming of the clock, the nervous “buzz” of the doomed, the morbid force of the apparition — all are expressed in a truly innovative fashion.

Concert a Cinq, Opus 71 (1923) Jongen

Jongen was Belgian’s greatest composer after César Franck, whose music was an early influence. His music evolved through three distinct periods. The first reflects the cyclic treatment of Franck and the flowing modulations of Fauré. The second from about 1910 shows the influence of the impressionists, especially Debussy. And in the third, Jongen incorporates aspects of both neo-classicism and modernism. He became professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Royal Brussel Conservertoire and eventually its director. His summers were spent at his cottage at Sart-lez-Spa, where Concert a Cinq was written in 1923.

Introduction and Allegro (1905) Ravel

Although Ravel scored this work for an ensemble of harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, its form is closer to a miniature harp concerto. It was written in 1905, when Ravel was 30, commissioned by the publishers and harp- and piano-makers Erard. Its premiere was in 1907 at a semi-private concert of the Cercle Musical of Paris with the then 14-year-old harpist Micheline Kahn.

The Introduction, limpid and atmospheric, presents material that develops an opulent sonority seemingly out of proportion to the instruments employed. The Allegro is in simple three-part form, two themes are presented in the opening section and repeated in the close while the melody of the introduction joins a third theme in the central portion. Sweetness, simplicity, and a refreshing candor describe this creation, which pays tribute the gentlemanly musician who was Ravel’s teacher and idol, Gabriel Fauré.

exquisite music - superbly performed