Jean Françaix – Dixtuor (Wind Quintet + String Quintet)

Jean Françaix (1912-1997) – Dixtuor pour flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson, cor, deux violons, alto, violoncelle et contrebasse (1987) Omega Ensemble City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney (Australie) Concert enregistré le 15 août 2014 James Fortune – flûte Georgina Roberts – hautbois David Rowden – clarinette Ben Hoadley – bassoon Michael Dixon – cor Ike See – violon Veronique Serret – violon James Wannan – alto Paul Stender – violoncelle Maxime Bibeau – contrebasse Vidéo originale :    • Video   Looking for new chamber music repertoire? Go take a look at the ContrebasseClassique website: https://www.contrebasseclassique.com/ Composer's website: https://www.jeanfrancaix.com/en/ Details by Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Fr...) Françaix was born in Le Mans. His natural gifts were encouraged from an early age by his family. His father, Alfred Françaix, was Director of the Conservatoire of Le Mans as well as a musicologist, composer, and pianist; His mother, Jeanne Françaix, was a teacher of singing. Jean Françaix studied at the Conservatoire of Le Mans and then at the Paris Conservatory, and was only six when he took up composing, with a style heavily influenced by Ravel. Françaix's first publication, in 1922, caught the attention of a composer working for the publishing house, who steered the gifted boy toward a gifted teacher, Nadia Boulanger (who, after her sister's death in 1918, had given up composing and devoted her life to teaching, conducting, and playing the organ). Boulanger encouraged Françaix's career, considering the young composer to be one of the best, if not the best, of her students. Noted pianist and pedagogue Isidor Philipp also taught him. Françaix himself often played his own works, to public acclaim; notably in the premiere of his Concertino for Piano and Orchestra at the festival of Baden-Baden in 1932. By 1932, Françaix had his Huit Bagatelles played at the Vienna Festival by the Kolisch Quartet and himself at the piano, while in Paris his Concertino for piano and orchestra was heard in 1933. Françaix's compositions continued to be played during the 1930s in Paris. A string trio (1933), a fantaisie for cello and orchestra, three duos for two sopranos, a sonatine for violin and piano, a quintet, and a serenade for small orchestra (1934). 1935 saw the premiere of his Quadruple Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Orchestra, and 1936 of a piano concerto. Françaix's music was also used for ballets: Le Roi nu, Les Malheurs de Sophie (both for Paris) and Jeu Sentimental (for Brussels). Les Malheurs de Sophie was composed in 1935 and was based on French children literature of the same name. This was the composer’s third ballet (it was preceded by Scuola di Ballo and Beach, both from 1933) and here at last he found a subject that was ideal for his special brand of genial and even childlike invention. Françaix was an accomplished pianist from an early age, earning a First Prize in Piano at the Paris Conservatory, and toured throughout Europe and the U.S. He performed notably in a duo with the French cellist Maurice Gendron, and also performed the Poulenc Two-Piano Concerto with Francis Poulenc for several engagements when Jacques Février was not available. Françaix even premiered his concerto for two pianos with his daughter, pianist Claude Françaix, in 1964. Jean Françaix's primary occupation was his extraordinarily active compositional career. Françaix was named an Officier de la Légion d'honneur in 1991. He remained prolific throughout his life; even in 1981, Françaix described himself as "constantly composing", barely finishing one piece before beginning another, and continued thus until his death in 1997 in Paris. #jeanfrancaix #francaix #10instruments #doublebassmusic