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Pieces Breves Op. 84 - Gabriel Faure Arr. Luc Vertommen - Euphonium and Piano |
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In stockA set of five movements from this suite of pieces by Gabriel Faure.
Faure did not intend these pieces to be published as a set; they were composed as individual works between 1869 and 1902. his publishers, insisted on issuing them together as "Eight Short Pieces" in 1902, the composer successfully demanded that none of the eight must be allocated its own title. When he moved on to another publisher, Hamelle ignored his earlier instructions and issued subsequent editions with titles for each piece.
1. Capriccio Dedicated to Madame Jean Leonard Koechlin.[Morrison calls it "capricious indeed", and notes a harmonic twist at the end "as nonchalant as it is acrobatic".It was originally written as a sight-reading test for students at the Paris Conservatoire, of which Faure was the professor of composition from 1896 and director from 1905 to 1920.
2. Adagietto An andante moderato, "serious, grave, at once firm and pliant, attaining real beauty" (Koechlin).
3. Improvisation Orledge calls this piece a middle period "song without words". It was composed as a sight-reading test for the Conservatoire.[
4. Allégresse "A bubbling perpetuum mobile whose surging romantic feelings are only just kept under restraint" (Orledge). "A song, pure and gay, uplifted to a sunlit sky, a youthful outpouring, full of happiness." (Koechlin).
5. Nocturne As noted above, this piece stands apart from the larger-scale works to which Fauré gave the title "nocturne". It would not be listed among them were it not for the publisher's unauthorised use of the title in this case. It is the longest of the eight pieces of Op 84, but is much shorter and simpler than the other 12 nocturnes, consisting of a song-like main theme with a delicate semiquaver accompaniment in the left hand.
What a super collection of music, and brilliantly edited and arranged by Gabriel Faure. Movements can of course by played separately.
Highly recommended
Duration approx 10 mins
Difficulty 4.5+/6
Supplied with solo parts in TC, BC and BC in Bb and piano score
