MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Buy through MusicWeb
for £12 postage paid World-wide.

Musicweb Purchase button

Ernesto HALFFTER (1905-1989)
The Piano Music
Espagnolade (1937) [4:39]
Crepusculos (1920, rev.1936) [10:50]
Marche joyeuse (1922) [2:43]
Piezas infantiles (1919) [3:07]
Sonata (1926, rev.1932) [6:00]
Three dances from the ballet Sonatina (1927) [11:05]
Gruss (1940) [2:22]
Llanto por Ricardo Viñes (1943) [3:52]
Serenata a Dulcinea (1944) [5:22]
Pregón. Cuba (1945) [2:40]
Habanera (1945) [4:11]
Preludio y danza (1974) [5:19]
Nocturno otoñal Recordando a Chopin (1987) [3:47]
Sonata. Homenaje a Domenico Scarlatti (1985) [5:38]
Homenaje a Rodolfo Halffter (1988) [3:12]
Homenaje a Federico Mompou (1988) [2:32]
Homenaje a Joaquín Turina (1988) [1:51]
Martin Jones (piano)
rec. November 2006 and May 2007, Wyastone, Monmouth, UK.DDD
NIMBUS NI5849[79:23]

Experience Classicsonline




 
Like his older brother Rodolfo, Ernesto Halffter played an important role in the birth of the new Spanish musical voice in the Twenties. After studying with de Falla and Ravel, he became one of the central figures in the progressive group of Spanish composers, The Group of Eight. Like Rodolfo, Ernesto had to leave the country during the Civil War. He settled in Portugal. Whereas Rodolfo’s music is more modern, dry, at times ascetic, with some urbanistic acidity, Ernesto’s is more soulful, more Spanish, and its most conspicuous feature is the rich, daring harmony. The present disc collects almost the entire known solo piano output of Ernesto Halffter, and its span covers all his creative life. The earliest pieces here were written when he was 14, the last ones date from one year before composer’s death.
 
The disc opens with Espagnolade. As one could expect from the name, it is very Spanish; more exactly - Andalusian. Its cold dark drive resembles the famous Spanish Dance No.5 of Granados. In the first part of Crepusculos the young composer grippingly depicts the creeping twilight; the impressionistic harmonies are quite brave for a 15-year old. The waltzing second part has more light. The last part is permeated with the idea of time. Overall, it is enthralling, beautiful music. Marche joyeuse is percussive, sometimes dissonant, and childish. It is interesting pianistically, and, though sounds quite Ravelian, is not a derivative. Piezas infantiles are another juvenile creation – though simple technically, they are interesting musically. The tiny Serenata is eerie, cold and angular. The other two parts are similar to it, harmonically and in their melodic structure: Valse with its silver sonorities, and Petite Marche, which is not especially march-like.
 
A piano sonata does not have to be a large, multipartite composition – the name that comes to mind as a proof is Domenico Scarlatti. Halffter’s first Sonata is clearly of Scarlatti’s heritage, but its Baroque genes express themselves in modern features. It is a short – just six minutes long, very concentrated work. The episodes follow each other without breaks, as in Prokofiev’s First piano concerto. The piano writing is complex, and there is a lot of fortissimo. The mood is jubilant, except for the beautiful, tender cantabile episode. This music is far from “easy listening”, but it is stimulating and rewarding.
 
Halffter extracted and arranged for piano three dances from his ballet Sonatina. The first one recalls the old French masters, especially Couperin. Light and graceful, the music flows like a babbling brook. The second dance retains this cool daintiness and the plaintive mood, but is more Spanish and more danceable, like a seguidilla. The third piece is a passionate flamenco, rhythmically rich and flamboyant.
 
Halffter’s father was German. Gruss, a Christmas present to his dad, is very German in nature. It is a gentle, tranquil Albumblatt – a transparent aquarelle which could be created by Schumann or Grieg. Llanto por Ricardo Viñes is a Bachian arpeggiated chorale, but the Baroque elements are used with Halffter’s personal harmonies, troubling and dissonant. The music has the slow momentum of a sarabande. Serenata a Dulcinea could be the most memorable piece on the disc. In good accordance with the original meaning of the word Serenata, this music has a shadowy, evening mood. This is glass music, transparent and fragile, full of sadness and yearning.
 
Pregón is a swaying rumba, spiced and accentuated. The carefree mood is completely Cuban. Habanera is sensual and soft. Martin Jones excellently highlights its meaningful pauses and the erotic rubato. This is music you want to hear not alone. Like a Caribbean cocktail, it is sweet and intoxicating. Preludio y danza is more advanced. The Prelude explores the stern rhythmic figure first stated in its opening. It is a dark and dissonant toccata, with the dim silhouette of Bach showing through the unexpected harmonies. Dance is very different: it is playful and mischievous, with elfin lightness, small teeth and sharp nails. The aftertaste of the entire work is like after one of Scriabin’s sonatas, although the language is very different.
 
Nocturno otoñal is dreamy and reflective. I can’t say it really grabs attention, but it sets a mood of unperturbed meditation. The second Sonata is even more Scarlattian than the first one. Again, the Baroque elements are moved into Halffter’s personal harmonic world. The character is positive and spirited, the music is diverse, and the compact structure brings up a very intense musical experience, though it seems to me that the First Sonata tells me much more.
 
Three short pieces written in 1988 are homages to three Spanish composers. Homenaje a Rodolfo Halffter is a tender lullaby. A more active middle episode quotes from one of Rodolfo’s early works. Whereas the language of this piece is advanced, the ensuing Homenaje a Federico Mompou is as simple as a song. This is another lullaby with a poignant melody, sad and sincere. As a contrast, Homenaje a Turina is a joyous scene – boisterous, exclamatory and very Spanish. It provides an excellent ending to the album.
 
Martin Jones is a perfect advocate for this beautiful music. He is technically impeccable, and finds something special in every work. This is “absolute” playing: the pianist does not show off, but puts the listener right into the music. The interpretations are honest and sound right. But they are not plain: much thought is apparently put into the decisions. The voice of the piano is light and round; the music sounds fragile, clean, silvery transparent. This is aided by a clear recording. Calum MacDonald provided excellent liner-notes with engaging historical and musical analysis of the works.
 
The more I know the art of Ernesto Halffter, the more I want to explore it further. Among the music of the 20th Century his voice was not a loud one, but it’s worth listening to and said beautiful things.
 
Oleg Ledeniov

see also review by Byzantion
 

 

 

 



 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.