ATMA and Stéphane Lemelin have established a reputation for exploring
composers relegated to the periphery of French music. This disc
cuts a piano solo cross-section through the composer's far from
plenteous output.
Born into an artistic and affluent family
in Bordeaux Samazeuilh had entrée to the music-cultural elite
of his day. Around the turn of the century he studied with
Chausson, d'Indy and Dukas at the Schola Cantorum. His catalogue
of works is sparing but includes a Fantaisie Elegiaque
beloved of Thibaud and Cortot, a string trio and string
quintet alongside some orchestral pieces and songs. He wrote
about music and translated into French the libretti of Tristan
and Isolde and Strauss's Capriccio.
Le Chant de la Mer is his most extensive work for solo piano. It is a triptych
with a slow surging Prelude suggestive of the ponderous
majesty of the oceans. Rooted in their peerless depths, we
hear an impressionistic and rich Claire de lune au large
which evokes the far horizons of Koechlin's Les
Heures Persanes. The last movement Tempête et lever du jour sur les
flots is replete with threat and anger but finally rises
above negation to a stunningly defiant climax irradiated by
sunlight and triumph. A magnificent piece of music which should
be much more widely known and played. There are separate dedications
for each movement: to Francis Planté, Marguérite Long and
Alfred Cortot.
The six movement Suite was written
when he was 25. Each episode takes a classical title but there
is no parody, no tawdry. One might compare this suite with
Warlock's Capriol of a decade or so later. The Three
little Inventions are tributes to Bach but with a lightly
romanticised haze at the edges.
Naiades au Soir steps back from ancient composition models to produce
in masterly fashion an impressionistic essay which is fragile
yet resilient. It ends in a warming haze of cushioned bass
resonance. It's a rich piece which drew an orchestral version
from the composer.
The last two works on this disc date from
three decades later just after the Second World War. The Dédicace
of Esquisses inhabits a similar world to the Prelude
of Chant de la Mer. Luciole is a pell-mell Flight
of the bumble bee which melts away quickly into an abrupt
silence. Serenade is for left-hand only and the final
and very lucid Souvenir for the right hand alone is
clearly Spanish-inflected. It would go well in recital with
Rapsodie espagnole. The piece ends with a fine Iberian
stutter. The four pieces in Esquisses are respectively
dedicated to the French pianists Tatiana de Sanzéwitch, Jeanne-Marie
Darré, Jean Doyen and Marcel Ciampi.
The gentle Evocation is dedicated
to Georges Enesco who had retired to Paris and to seeming anonymity.
Lemelin negotiates all this allusive and
often subtle music with fluency and fibre - qualities also evident
in his programme notes. More please: collections of piano music
by Bonnal, Witkowski and d'Ollonne would be very acceptable.
Rob Barnett
