»Unerhört? Hörenswert!«

Formed sound

Amongst connoisseurs, the composer Eugène Bozza is highly regarded for his chamber music works for woodwind. The composer's affinity with this particular group of instruments is also clearly apparent in the configuration of his Divertissements for three bassoons. Bozza wrote most of his many chamber music pieces from the middle of the 1950s onward. In these, it often seems to the listener that the composer is trying to convey the sound of his adopted home, Provence, by trying to set down a personal perception of this landscape in music or to capture acoustically the typical sounds of the region.

Max Bruch's chamber music has been primarily classified as being in the Romantic tradition of Ludwig van Beethoven, which has earned him the reputation of being a »conservative and backward-looking« composer. Unlike his contemporaries, in fact, who dared to try out every innovation in music, Bruch followed the traditions of past eras and integrated them into his compositions. Following the model of Beethoven's Septet, op. 20, Bruch's Septet for Two Violins, Cello, Double Bass, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon in E flat major is written for mixed woodwinds, brass and strings in a traditional, »serenade-like« sound framework, structured in the »classical« four movements.

After being forced to leave his homeland of Poland for France by the National Socialists in 1940, Alexandre Tansman then moved to the North American continent a year later. In addition to composing a large number of film scores, his work there was defined in particular by his encounter with Igor Stravinsky, who had a decisive effect on his musical style. Tansman's Musique for Clarinet and String Quartet gives the listener an impression of the composer's skilful style.

Over time, Franz Schubert's Octet in F major, D 803, which is probably one of the most famous chamber music works ever, has consistently inspired composers to produce their own composition to follow on from it. The reason has always been the desire to create a full concert programme by combining the two works. The Octuor for String Quintet, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon by Jean Françaix also owes its existence to such an endeavour. Schubert's traditional configuration has been adopted by Françaix, but given new life in a contemporary form. But the octet not only plays with the contrast between the traditional and the modern when it comes to the configuration of instruments, but also develops this contrast in the sound and shaping of the entire structure of the work: Thus a classic, calm string quintet is contrasted with an unexpected subsequent quickstep with a tune in the clarinet and dominant horn in the first movement. The second movement also contains sound contrasts between the strings and the clarinet, before allowing peace to descend for a moment in the third movement, leading like a cradle song into the grand finale. The last movement finally sounds like a pastiche of its great model, and is characterised in particular by its dissonances, which stand out again and again. With repetitions of the themes and reminiscences of the motifs, the work is finally brought to an end with the utmost compositional sophistication.

Eugène Bozza (1905–1991)
Divertissements for Three Bassoons
Allegro moderato – Adagio, ma non troppo – Allegro giocoso

Max Bruch (1838–1920)
Septet for Two Violins, Cello, Double Bass, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon in E flat major
Andante maestoso. Allegro con brio – Adagio – Scherzo – Largo. Allegro vivace. Agitato

– Interval –

Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986)
Musique for Clarinet and String Quartet

Jean Françaix (1912–1997)
Octuor for String Quintet, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon
Moderato. Allegrissimo – Scherzo – Andante. Adagio – Mouvement de Valse