Vierne, Louis (1896): Deux pièces pour hautbois et piano, op. 6 — Gattet/Wagschal

Composer: Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) From Ensemble le Déluge (founded 2021): Oboist: Alexandre Gattet (born 1979) Pianist: Laurent Wagschal (born 8 February 1972) Dedicated to awsk with amicable spirit and admiration    / @led_tube   This work is in the public domain. Two Pieces for oboe [and piano],¹ op. 6² 0:00 — i. Largo 3:47 — ii. Canzonetta (1896) Engraved by Christian Hesse (CAESURA) in 2024 from the composer's holographs in the National Library of France; available from the International Music Score Library Project — Petrucci Music Library. Known alternatively as the 'Largo e Canzonetta', the presented pair of lyrical miniatures constitute the third earliest chamber works of a blind French Romantic composer generally otherwise known for his organistic œuvre. They were conceived in March of 1896 whilst Louis Vierne, at twenty-five years, studied at the Conservatoire de Paris; likewise was he employed as a substitute teacher to the institution's organ class.³ Along with the oboist M. Foucault, the artist premièred the duo on 24 December of that year at the Salle Érard in the second district of Paris. Said programme was staged as part of a concert-series sponsored by the Society for New Music, which he had helped establish. Their first recording would only occur in 1993 with Christian Moreaux and Olivier Gardon playing the two instruments; this was released in Timpani's survey of the composer's complete chamber music.⁴ Vierne bore a deep respect for the oboe’s character: even while writing for his principal instrument did he hearken unto its poetic, versatile timbre. Often would he specify that the Basson-Hautbois rank (pitched at 8’) be drawn in the Récit (Swell) division. Within the artist's juvenilia, the Largo e Canzonetta ‘mark a fairly clear evolution compared to the earlier Two Pieces for viola and piano [Le soir; Légende — op. 5; 1894-1895] […]; their musical substance is denser, their emotions more substantial, their writing more original: here can one no longer speak of salon music. Vierne has begun to unveil his true temperament’, notes the scholar Jean-Pierre Mazeirat. Another musicologist, the organist Franck Besingrand, proposed the following in his 2011 biography: "[…] through its inflexions and triple metre, [the Canzonetta] evidently references his teacher Gabriel Fauré, albeit with a more pronounced chromaticism." Both are structured in concise sonatina forms. The contemplative Largo, inspired by the recitative slow movements of Johann Sebastian Bach (particularly those for organ), opens in E♭ major. Subsequently modulating to F major and thence G major, the air thus peacefully returns during the coda to its initial tonality. One might liken this progression to a flower gradually blossoming in the light. Succeeding it, the more animated Canzonetta (keyed in F# minor) drifts through clouds of Oriental suppleness and seduction, with agogic currents and serenely melodic phrasings. As it progresses, subtle blemishes of sarcasm, bitterness and frivolity appear before it abruptly concludes with sweeping trills and a grave, stately flourish. The two are lushly and limpidly accompanied, as expectant of their composer. Even though he would register their manuscripts (digitised in January 2024 by Gallica, the online service of the National Library of France) at the SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) on 27 August 1897, the author, sequestering the score, made no further effort in disseminating the Largo and the Canzonetta sans that aforementioned performance: doubtlessly did he regard them amongst the follies of his youth. The Two Pieces remain unpublished to this day. ¹ As displayed in the præamble, the holographs simply note the oboe instrumentation-wise. Scholars commonly append ‘et piano’ (as per Bernard Gavoty's catalogue) for description's sake: said format is that with which one concurs. Do furthermore take note that, within the engraving, brackets enclose this appendage. ² In a proclivity shared with his masters César Franck and Gabriel Fauré, the composer assigned opus numbers without regard for chronology or for publication; in said catalogue could anterior numbers be assigned to later entries. For instance: his String Quartet in D minor is numbered op. 12, despite being written in the summer of 1894. ³ The class' professor proper was Charles-Marie Widor, another of Vierne's key mentors and a dearly cherished friend. ⁴    • Largo & Canzonetta for Piano & Oboe - Loui...   Selon la description de cette chaîne, je ne possède rien dans cette vidéo. La musique et ses interprétations ont été téléchargées exclusivement et entièrement à des fins de divulgation et de diffusion de l'intérêt pour la musique et les arts. As per the description of this channel, I do not own anything within this video. The music and performances have been uploaded exclusively and entirely for the purposes of divulgation and spreading interest in music and the arts.