Amédéé-Ernest Chausson: 1855-1899

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    Amédéé-Ernest Chausson: 1855-1899

    Strange that there were two COTW threads on Purcell last week, but none at all (until now) for Chausson - which I would guess one has to put down to his being another in the little-considered-here French composer brigade. British writers have written to put down the Wagner influence on some French composers in the 1880s and 1890s as a weakening factor in their music - and we know what Debussy felt about it in regards to his own music - but I would disagree.

    Some on here may nevertheless find themselves out of sympathy with the music of Chausson for other reasons - a composer very much in the César Franck vein as regards harmonies and formal procedures, being very much a Franck advocate. But quite frankly () this is gorgeous music, often somewhat melancholic in tone, occasionally broad of statement, located in style somewhere between Wagner, Fauré, and his one-time friend Debussy, pre-Pélleas, one might say, and in some ways anticipating Delius in moods.

    Definitely worth tuning in every day this week at noon.

    #2
    Many thanks for starting this thread, S-A. For me, one of the great tragedies of music is that Chausson died so young. I've always loved the 'Poeme' and attempted to play it as a teenager but, alas, its terribly difficult! The 'Concerto for Violin, piano and String Quartet' is an amazing piece.

    It's been terrific to hear music of his I didn't know this week.

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      #3
      I have yet to hear music by Chausson that I don’t like. I instantly fell in love with his Symphony in B flat when a friend played me a recording of it ‘blind’. Much as I admire its Franckian model, Chausson’s opus 20 is the one that stays in my head. Virtually absent from British concert halls, it has been luckier on record from Paray to Tortelier.

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