"My dream has
remained the same from the very beginning,
a dream of imaginary far horizons -
of the infinite, the mysteries of the
night, and triumphant bursts of light."
So wrote the French
composer Koechlin in 1947. Another Scriabin?
Not quite. Koechlin seems to have had
his dreams earthed and so avoided the
perils of Messianic self-absorption.
Nor did these dreams produce cerebral
results. As late as 1933 and 1946 he
produced major orchestral works such
as Vers La Voûte Etoilée
and Docteur Fabricius that
pursue these arcana but steer clear
of the voluptuary nature of Scriabin’s
music.
The exoticism of the
orient took a firm hold of European
and others cultures throughout the period
1800-1950. Its forms were myriad from
gimcrack salon to exalted inspiration.
The Russians were particularly affected
through Rimsky, Borodin and Ippolitov-Ivanov.
The Americans succumbed as well with
examples including Griffes Pleasure
Dome and Farewell’s The Gods
of the Mountains. In Belgium Biarent’s
Contes’ d’Orient is a classic
example - a very fine piece. In England
Bantock wrote many oriental works including
his philosophical masterpiece Omar
Khayyam. Contemporary with the Koechlin
work recorded here Delius wrote a magical
score for Flecker’s play Hassan
which in its final moonlit camel train
departure comes close to Koechlin in
Les Heures Persanes. In France
there was an even long roster: Ravel
(Sheherazade), Roussel (Padmavati,
Evocations), Cras, Tomasi (some
wonderful discoveries yet to be made
there) and plenty of others.
Koechlin was not immune
from this interest. His principal inspiration
for Les Heures Persanes was the
exotic travelogue by Pierre Loti, Vers
Ispahan published in 1904. What
we have here in sixteen movements is
a study in atmosphere. The music is
both subtle and refined. Sumptuous supercharged
gestures are few and far between. Instead
the music is often reflective and steadily
paced. In each case the image is of
a vista which has been internalised
by the observer. The music concentrates
on the thoughts rather than the scene.
If we ignore the two
piano versions (Herbert Henck on Wergo
and Kathryn Stott on Chandos) there
are now two recordings of the Les
Heures persanes. Around since 1993
is Segerstam’s Marco Polo (8.223504)
recording with the Staatsphilharmonie
Rheinland-Pfalz. Segerstam takes 68:56
to Holliger’s 58:03. I have compared
the two. Holliger and Hänssler
are businesslike yet despite the ten
minute difference their reading rarely
seems hasty. Segerstam favours a more
languid approach and to my ears this
works well with this dreamy vision of
a work. In addition the Marco Polo team
secured a very transparent and clear
audio image in the Pfalzbau Hall in
Ludwigshafen. The Sieste has
a greater plangency with Marco Polo.
In Caravane Holliger’s orchestral
tone is hooded, less spot-lit while
the Segerstam ostinato is bass deep
and bitingly immediate. Travers la
rue recalls Debussy’s La Mer
and with Holliger is an urgent wild
rumpus. On the other hand in the fleeting
celebrations of Matin the Hänssler
version is quicker and less mysterious.
Marco Polo catches to perfection the
shifting high harmonics and metallic
majesty of the brass eruption. Honours
are evenly divided in the shifting harmonics
of Clair de lune but in Aubade
Holliger is heart-easing in his
evocation of bird-song while the Marco
Polo is more earth-bound. Segerstam
handles Le Conteur (tr. 14 -
virtually a mini tone poem) with real
tenderness but Holliger compensates
with a much stronger presence for the
gong and generally a better sense of
fantasy. Swings and roundabouts.
I hope that Holliger
will not stop and will go on to tackle
Koechlin’s five movement Symphony
of Hymns (1938: hymns to the sun,
night, day, youth, life), La Cité
nouvelle (1938, a fantasy tone poem
after H.G. Wells - perhaps inspired
by Things to Come - Koechlin
was a keen cinema-goer), the First and
Second Symphonies (1916, 1943-44), En
Mer, La Nuit (a tone poem after
Heine’s ‘North Sea’) and La Forêt
(1896-1907) a further tone poem
in two parts.
Across the Marco Polo-Hänssler
divide my preference is for Segerstam,
his plangent languor and superior recording
transparency. If the work is at all
important to you having both versions
will provide rewards and revelations.
Rob Barnett
Other Koechlin Reviews
You may be interested in reading reviews
of two other discs in Hänssler’s
Koechlin Edition:-
Vers
La Voûte Etoilée and
Docteur Fabricius
La
Course de printemps and
Le buisson ardent Hänssler
Classic CD 93.045
TRACK LISTING
Timing Comparison: (Marco Polo-Segerstam;
Hänssler-Holliger)
Les Heures Persanes (Persian
Hours), Op. 65
1 Sieste, avant le départ [03:47]
[3:36]
2 La caravane (rêve, pendant la
sieste) [08:00] [5:57]
3 L'escalade obscure [03:13] [3:01]
4 Matin frais, dans la haute vallée
[03:39 [2:56]
5 En vue de la ville [03:14] [3:13]
6 A travers les rues [04:26] [3:59]
7 Chant du soir [02:26] [2:06]
8 Clair de lune sur les terrasses [03:20]
[3:03]
9 Aubade [02:33] [2:50]
10 Roses au soleil de midi [02:34] [1:56]
11 A l'ombre, près de la fontaine
de marbre [03:15] [3:10]
12 Arabesques [02:15] [2:04]
13 Les collines, au coucher du soleil
[03:08] [2:16]
14 Le conteur [09:34] [6:30]
15 La paix du soir, au cimetière
[06:06] [4:44]
16 Derviches dans la nuit - Clair de
lune sur la place déserte [07:18]
[6:52]
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR/Heinz
Holliger 
