Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931)!

[SonicMan46]

Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931) - beginning to collect some music by this French composer - don't believe that we have a current thread on him.  I just finished the book Vincent d'Indy and His World by Andrew Thomson (1996; Clarendon Press - Oxford; 220 pages + catalog of his main works).

He was born into a military aristocratic family, but trained at the Paris Conservatoire, and came under the influence of Franck who seemed to be d'Indy's 'spiritual' father.  Rather atypical for a French composer of his time, he visited Germany (met Liszt; heard Wagner), was interested in older forms of music, and was critical of the methods at the Conservatoire; along w/ several friends, he founded the Schola Cantorum in 1894, which was a rival to the Paris musical institution.

d'Indy was a controversial and multi-talented personality; a composer, writer, teacher, conductor, school master and influential in his life time.  The book mentioned is somewhat 'dry' but includes sufficient information on his life and the main compositions he wrote; more interesting are the comments made on those around him and the musical 'atmosphere' of France in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.  His pupils were many, including Roussel, Albeniz, Turina, Satie, and Varese.

His compositions were varied but not abundant, likely because of his many other activities (he was also a husband and father, tragically losing his wife and a daughter too early in their lives); the catalog of his 'main' works includes primarily chamber music and orchestral works (with a handful of piano and stage compositions); a list of his compositions can be found HERE, just over a 100 Opus numbers (and some other works).

I'll shortly post the couple of recordings I own currently, but will enjoy hearing from others w/ an interest in this Parisian composer and in musical recommendations - 

 

[SonicMan46]

Well, I currently have two recordings of d'Indy's works:

Chamber Music w/ members from the Luxembourg PO on the Timpani label (1C1119) (works included shown below).

Orchestral Works w/ Rumon Gamba & Iceland PO (compositions also shown below) - 

 

    CLICK HERE for a MusicWeb Review!

[SonicMan46]

And just a final 'introductory' post concerning the pronunciation of his name - my wife (who took a lot of French in HS & at Brown University; plus, spent a summer in France as a student) had to correct me!  I'm pretty good w/ French wine regions, grapes, & labels, though - 

Check HERE:  Vincent (van-sahn) d'Indy (dan-dee)

[Dundonnell]

Well done for starting this thread I had half sort of starting one on d'Indy myself-he certainly deserves a thread of his own both as composer and as musical mentor to so many other fine French composers!

I have eight d'Indy CDs-

Timpani:   -Symphony in A minor "Italienne' (a very early and pretty atypical work) plus the Concerto for piano, flute, cello and strings
                         (late and again atypical)
              -"Poeme des rivages", Symphonic Variations "Istar", and Diptyque mediterraneen(luscious romantic works-highly recommended
                          disc)

EMI French Classics series: -Symphony No.2( a masterpiece) coupled with the more famous Symphonie sur an chant montagnard francais
                                                        for piano and orchestra
                                     -"Poeme des rivages" and Diptyque mediterraneen
                                     -Symphonic Variations "Istar", Wallenstein Triology, and Le Foret enchantee

Auvidis Valois:  Symphony No.3 "De Bello Gallico"(sometimes called Sinfonia Brevis-except it isn't very short at 34 minutes long!!) coupled
                             with 'Saugefleurie' and 'Souvenirs' (the 3rd Symphony is not as good a work as the 2nd but is heartfelt and worth
                             hearing)

and an Erato cd which includes "Jour d'ete a la montagne" and a Marco Polo cd which  includes 'Saugefleurie' and the Fantasy on French Popular Themes for Oboe and orchestra.

Chandos will probably include most or all of these orchestral pieces in its new survey but in the meantime the second Timpani disc and the two symphonies are recommended.

[donaldopato]

I have the old Pierre Monteux San Francisco SO recordings on RCA, part of the Pierre Monteux edition series. Disc consists of: Symphony on a French Mountain Air (his most well known work, but I have not seen it programmed in a while), Symphony # 2 Op.57 and Fervaal, op 40. Pleasant, tuneful music in the Franck mode.

Would be interested in thoughts on a more modern Mountain Air Symphony recording, the Monteux is in mono from the 40's I believe.

[Dundonnell]

The two I have are Catherine Collard with the French Radio Philharmonic, Marek Janowski(Erato) and Aldo Ciccolini with the Orchestre de Paris, Serge Baudo(EMI).

The Collard is a good performance marred by a dull recording. Ciccolini-who made the work a speciality of his-is the better bet. However I don't think the EMI disc will be easy to find.

[SonicMan46]

Colin - thanks for your several replies - the Chandos disc from the Icelanders is excellent & the review from MusicWeb outstanding - just wonder when the new releases will appear? 

Donaldopato - the recording that I mentioned is an excellent selection of 'some' of d' Indy's orchestral works - can't give you a 'newer' recommendation (although others may?), but the Chandos recording discussed in my second post is outstanding - I'm assuming that this group will be releasing more of his orchestral output! 

Dave - 

[Dundonnell]

As I have commented before, Chandos starts series like this and sometimes they peter out

There are plenty which haven't of course(thank you, Chandos!) but we got Richard Rodney Bennett, Orchestral Works, Volume 1 in 2006 and that has been that There have been two volumes of Malcolm Williamson Orchestral Works but nothing further recently.

The Williamson featured the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as well. Given Iceland's current financial difficulties the orchestra has maybe put their instruments up for sale

[donaldopato]

The two I have are Catherine Collard with the French Radio Philharmonic, Marek Janowski(Erato) and Aldo Ciccolini with the Orchestre de Paris, Serge Baudo(EMI).

The Collard is a good performance marred by a dull recording. Ciccolini-who made the work a speciality of his-is the better bet. However I don't think the EMI disc will be easy to find.

The Ciccolini on EMI is available as one of ArchivMusic's ArchivCD reissues.

[tjguitar]

As I have commented before, Chandos starts series like this and sometimes they peter out

There are plenty which haven't of course(thank you, Chandos!) but we got Richard Rodney Bennett, Orchestral Works, Volume 1 in 2006 and that has been that There have been two volumes of Malcolm Williamson Orchestral Works but nothing further recently.

The Williamson featured the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as well. Given Iceland's current financial difficulties the orchestra has maybe put their instruments up for sale

Author:     Chandos
Date:     30/10/2008 14:21:22
Subject:     Re: Vincent D'indy: query
Message:     Symphony No. 2 has been recorded for release next year. Symphony No. 3 is planned to record very soon as is Symphony 1 and lots of other orchestral works. Another 3 volumes at least

[Wanderer]

I have a - small - number of d'Indy recordings, so I'll be following this thread with interest. The work that has managed to capture my interest the most so far is his delightful Symphonie cévenole.

[The new erato]

Author:     Chandos
Date:     30/10/2008 14:21:22
Subject:     Re: Vincent D'indy: query
Message:     Symphony No. 2 has been recorded for release next year. Symphony No. 3 is planned to record very soon as is Symphony 1 and lots of other orchestral works. Another 3 volumes at least

The first disc in this series has really wetted my appetite for more. I wish they were all available NOW!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

D'Indy was Magnard's teacher, too. It will be interesting for me to see how master and pupil (who became a master in his own right, of course) differ.

[Dundonnell]

Author:     Chandos
Date:     30/10/2008 14:21:22
Subject:     Re: Vincent D'indy: query
Message:     Symphony No. 2 has been recorded for release next year. Symphony No. 3 is planned to record very soon as is Symphony 1 and lots of other orchestral works. Another 3 volumes at least

Well, well...so Chandos actually responded to an enquiry regarding future releases? More than they often do on the Chandos website forum!

Must try them on Vainberg, Williamson and Bennett then

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, well...so Chandos actually responded to an enquiry regarding future releases? More than they often do on the Chandos website forum!

Must try them on Vainberg, Williamson and Bennett then

Don't push (y)our luck, Colin!

[Dundonnell]

D'Indy was Magnard's teacher, too. It will be interesting for me to see how master and pupil (who became a master in his own right, of course) differ.

D'Indy's 2nd Symphony is-in my opinion-one of the finest symphonies written by a French composer and certainly stands alongside Magnard's 3rd and 4th as the finest written in the 50 years between the Franck and the Roussel 3rd and 4th.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

D'Indy's 2nd Symphony is-in my opinion-one of the finest symphonies written by a French composer and certainly stands alongside Magnard's 3rd and 4th as the finest written in the 50 years between the Franck and the Roussel 3rd and 4th.

Then I know enough.

[SonicMan46]

D'Indy was Magnard's teacher, too. It will be interesting for me to see how master and pupil (who became a master in his own right, of course) differ.

In the book pictured in the opening post, Magnard appears early in its pages as d'Indy's pupil, and then reappears many times throughout remainder of the text, so the two of them remained quite close; the most amazing aspect about d'Indy to me from this reading was his relationship to so many composers/students and the musical politics at the time; without these many other activities, he likely would have composed much more music! 

[The new erato]

Andnow there's news of a February release of this on Hyperion.



Wallenstein, Op 12 
Choral varié, Op 55 
Saugefleurie, Op 21 
Lied, Op 19

Vincent's on a roll these days.


 

[Bulldog]

Must try them on Vainberg, Williamson and Bennett then

I wish some source of authority would finally decide whether it's Vainberg or Weinberg.  Searching for his discs on the internet can be a pain when the name isn't definitive.  Same with Myaskovsky/Miaskovsky.