I noticed that Andre Jolivet doesn't have his own thread.
I have had an old LP of Jolivets music for years, but haven't really listened to it for a few decades (!).
What started my interest was this disc:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/HMC901925.jpg)
bought about 6 months ago at a period were I tried to broaden my knowledge of violin concertoes. Of several concerts new to me, this stood out. Its slightly jazzy, deeply expressive and particular idiom made this not only a very good, but also a deeply rewarding and personal, concerto. From that experience, I decided to try for more Jolivet.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought this 4-disc set:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/2564613202.jpg)
at a frankly quite ridiculous price from europadisc. I have listened to the first two discs, containing lots of concerto and concertante works, and have found the same playful, personal and slightly jazzy language with lot of interesting rhytms and fun use of percussion.
In a plethora of new discs arriving this autumn in some ways this has been the most interesting and impressive music I have listened to. I thought I never could listen to the Ondes Martenot again after the dreadful kitschy use of it in Messiaens Turangalila, but here I am actually enjoying its ethereal sound (talk about Music of the Spheres) and even smiling at its fun antics in the concerto for Ondes martenots. There's also some wonderful music for trumpet (not an instrument I usually enjoy a lot) and a superb cello concerto nr 1.
We need a thread for this fine composer. Anybody know these two discs:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/1C1143.jpg)
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/LVC1067.jpg)
?
Interesting that you should start a thread about Jolivet as he is one of two French composers I have been investigating this year-the other being Marcel Landowski.
I have bought the Harmonia Mundi cd of the Violin Concerto, the Erato 4-disc set, and the Timpani cd which you illustrate. The Timpani cd has the Symphonie pur cordes, 'Yin-Yang', Adagio, 'La Fleche du temps' and Andante(all for strings) but I must say that it was the least attrractive of the three purchases. I found the pieces dry and a trifle wearing to listen to in succession. Like yourself I was more impressed by the other discs.
I also bought a Solstice disc containing the 3rd Symphony(conducted by the composer in 1966), the Piano Concerto(from a 1968 radio broadcast) and the Cello Concerto No.1-the last duplicating the performance in the Erato box set. The symphony is a particularly violent work with 24 percussion instruments battering the listener. The piano concerto is also pretty dissonant and ferocious.
Of the two composers I do find Landowski's music much more to my personal taste! His Ondes Martenot concerto is a delightful piece.
Jolivet is certainly interesting but I could not listen to too much in one go :)
I've been fascinated by Jolivet's music for many years now. Surely, as with many composers his output is uneven, but much I find deeply expressive, serious, questioning...
Lucie Kayas wrote a good and up to date biography ( Fayard / Librairie Arthème) ,but that hasn't been translated yet. At the moment I think that the choral "Epithalame" is Jolivet's most recorded worK
The ( wild!)pianoconcerto was recently issued on a Maguelone disc - Pascal Gallet soloist/ Duisburg PhO/Darlington.
(http://www.pianobleu.com/actuel/images2/galletjolivet.jpg)
Isabelle Faust's version of the violonconcerto (Jolivet's last,finished work) is a major achievement.
There's also a performance (live) by Devy Erlih that is very impressive
Violin Sonata (1932)a [19:32]
Incantation (1937) [3:48]
Suite rhapsodique (1965) [17:42]
Violin Concerto (1972)b [37:59]
Devy Erlih (violin); Manabu Sekiya (piano)a; Orchestre National, Marius Constant
rec. (live) Japan, 1991 (Violin Sonata); Château du Seuil, Aix-en-Provence, June 1977 (Incantation, Suite rhapsodique) and (live) Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, April 1975 (Violin Concerto)
LYRINX LYR 242 [79:09]
Still,to fully understand Jolivet's stature as a composer we should have more, recent,well prepared recordings ! THe (early) stringquartet, the ballet Ariadne, 3 symphonies, the cantata "Le coeur de la matière", Cérémonial for 6 percussion, "Songe à nouveau rêvé" ( soprano/orchestra), Mandala - Hymne à l'univers for organ, Suite en concert for flute and 4 percussion....
Jolivet's daughter Christine takes care of a website "Les amis d'André jolivet" http://www.jolivet.asso.fr/ with plenty of information.
Peter
(http://www.cdmail.fr/jaquettes/cd/recto/0724358523720xr.gif)
Solistes; Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française; Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Colonne; Ensemble Madrigal; Dir. André Jolivet; Orchestre du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; Dir. Ernest Bour
Collection : Les Rarissimes
Concerto pour flûte, Concerto no 2 et concertino pour trompette, Concerto pour piano, Andante pour cordes, Suite française, Rhapsodie à 7, Suite delphique, Epithalame
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Sep05/Jolivet_LYR242.jpg)
(http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/36/1053136.jpg)
Cérémonial - ordered it at CD Universe.
I wonder how it will sound. It made a huge impression...25 years ago, when played by Slagwerkgroep Den Haag!
Peter
Quote from: erato on September 27, 2008, 02:26:46 AM
A couple of weeks ago, I bought this 4-disc set:
(http://www.mdt.co.uk/public/pictures/products/standard/2564613202.jpg)
at a frankly quite ridiculous price from europadisc. I have listened to the first two discs, containing lots of concerto and concertante works, and have found the same playful, personal and slightly jazzy language with lot of interesting rhytms and fun use of percussion.
I also got that 4-disc set, from Berkshire Record Outlet (www.broinc.com). Under $20.
I had never heard Jolivet. I knew, of course, that he was a member of that artistic cabal called La Jeune France, which also included the great Olivier Messiaen (or Olivier MESSIAEN, as it were). I knew that, like Messiaen, he had written music for the antique electronic instrument called the Ondes Martenot. I like those martenotish ondes quite a bit, so any time someone resurrects one I want to at least give it a listen, and Jolivet's Ondes Martenot Concerto was on that behemoth set.
I have yet to take it all in, of course, but the Harp Concerto, the 1st Cello Concerto, Heptade for percussion and trumpet, and the Concerto for Ondes Martenot and Orchestra (that
sound!) are all unique, all genius.
How I've missed Jolivet all these years I couldn't say. Nice to know that there are still unearthed gems out there, even for someone who has explored music for 38 years; there are still works that have the power to surprise, to captivate. To transport. Absolutely fantastic.
Incroyable!
Quote from: gomro on December 09, 2008, 05:13:24 PM
I also got that 4-disc set, from Berkshire Record Outlet (www.broinc.com). Under $20.
I had never heard Jolivet. I knew, of course, that he was a member of that artistic cabal called La Jeune France, which also included the great Olivier Messiaen (or Olivier MESSIAEN, as it were). I knew that, like Messiaen, he had written music for the antique electronic instrument called the Ondes Martenot. I like those martenotish ondes quite a bit, so any time someone resurrects one I want to at least give it a listen, and Jolivet's Ondes Martenot Concerto was on that behemoth set.
I have yet to take it all in, of course, but the Harp Concerto, the 1st Cello Concerto, Heptade for percussion and trumpet, and the Concerto for Ondes Martenot and Orchestra (that sound!) are all unique, all genius.
How I've missed Jolivet all these years I couldn't say. Nice to know that there are still unearthed gems out there, even for someone who has explored music for 38 years; there are still works that have the power to surprise, to captivate. To transport. Absolutely fantastic. Incroyable!
I too, need to digest, but there's no doubt, that there is REAL music in this set, written by an original voice,. BTW; if you like this, buy the Harmonia Mundi disc with the violin concerto. It's MANDATORY! $:)
Giving this a good old-fashioned bump! I just heard the violin concerto which is my first experience with this composer. Man, it is so strange! At first I was slipping into it expecting Romantic fare, which is sort of what I got at first (the disc came with a Chausson work before it, which aided this expectation), but this impression was gradually toyed with and then unraveled as the work went on. It mixes Romanticism with neoclassicism, expressionism, mild impressionism and all manner of strange stuff. It's still tuneful and accessable, not to mention a very fine work in its own right, but I was taken aback by all the influences so seamlessly consolidated.
From reading his Wikipedia article, his output seems rather potted (stylistically), but with that Erato box so cheap I figure there is no reason not to go for it. Thanks for making this thread! Hopefully some more Jolivet-heads might join in :)
Aren't his trumpet and flute ctos standard rep? They figure on many recital discs. The Erato set has always tempted me. Isn't he regarded as "the" flute composer of mid modern rep? Incantations?
I have his trumpet/organ piece (...something "baraco"?), very nice.
And his "Chant de Linos" is the most modern sounding piece for that most French of forces (flute, harp, SQ). It comes in a flute/piano version also, but the full version is quite piquant...and he has a little suite for, I think, flute, bassoon, harp, and maybe cello, called "Suite de Noel", or something Noel. I know, I know, I have to do everything from memory...but that piece is utterly delightful, as they say.
I remember some ctos were a bit bracing for me at the time.
Didn't think anyone would ever record his 1934 SQ (apparently on Timpani...how did I miss that?). I wonder how this compares with other 30s French SQs by Ibert and Roussel.
Landowski, Jolivet, Dutilleux, Ohana, and Constant...are there others in this "generation"? Obviously an alternative to Boulez and co.
You could probably add Henri Sauguet to that group. Jean Francaix-on the other hand-rather stands apart and might be regarded more as a composer in the Ibert tradition.
Strictly speaking, Ohana was actually a British citizen working in France ;D
Quote from: Dundonnell on May 20, 2009, 04:54:06 PMStrictly speaking, Ohana was actually a British citizen working in France ;D
Doh! :-X...still,... he's a Maurice! ;D
Wow, I'm the last poster?? ???...2009?? :'(
After getting the Sciarrino solo flute music, and finding that I really like endless, virtuoso flute music playing in the background, I realized Jolivet was going to be the man to see. Besides Rampal, does anyone have any recommendations for solo performers (no Concerto, please!).
I've been cultivating a list of Jolivet possibilities, and it seems from this thread, that the chamber route is the way to go. The flute/harp/+whatever combo seems to be his spiritual center, perhaps.
The Piano Sonatas' spiky ascerbicism(sic?,...haha) might appeal,... I'll have to investigate further. I definitely will be picking up the flute/perc and trumpet/perc pieces. He does seem to be stretching the instrumentation right up to the Boulez point, but still stays "this" side of Messiaen (meaning, more conservative).
Jolivet so much reminds me of the echt "Last Composer" style that exemplifies the Frenchies mentioned above, that ennui, 1950s, post-war searching. I particularly like these kinds of composers who seem to automatically add little jazzy bits (BAZimmermann comes to might,...very integrated) without drawing attention (maybe that's just the '50s?).
If I could find that Erato Box for $10 I'd get it! ;D
Anyone have any NEW thoughts on Jolivet?
There are many more French composers from that period ( born ca 1910-1930) . We know hardly a thing about them...But, yes, there's French musique "beyond" Messiaen and Boulez.
The styles vary wildly, of course, and not all of them are in the Messiaen/Boulez-league. Jolivet's best works ( the ambitious ones - cello concerti, violinconcerto, Songe a nouveau rêvé for soprano & orch., Le coeur de la matière, the symphonies, Suite en concert for cello, Rhapsodie à sept, the two pianosonatas etc) are strong, individual, highly expressive and original compositions.
Gilbert Amy ( °1936)
Claude Ballif ( °1924)
Henry Barraud (°1900)
Jacques Bondon (°1927)
André Boucourechliev (°1925)
Pierre Capdevielle (°1906)
André Casanova ( °1919)
Jacques Castérède (°1926)
Charles Chaynes ( °1925)
Adrienne Clostre ( °1921)
Marius Constant ( °1925)
Alfred Desenclos ( °1912)
Yvonne Desportes (°1907)
Luc Ferrari (°1929)
Raymond Gallois -Montbrun (°1918)
Jean Pierre Guézec (°1934)
Jean Jacques Grunenwald ( (°1911)
Pierre Hasquenoph (°1922)
Jacques Dupont (°1910)
Betsy Jolas ( °1926)
Ginette Keller (°1925)
René Koering (°1940)
Alain kremsky-Petitgirard (°1940)
Maurice Leroux (°1923)
Alain Louvier (°1945)
Ivo Malec (°1925)
Luc André Marcel (°1919)
Jean Etienne Marie (°1917)
Paul Méfano (°1937)
Patrice Mestral (°1945)
Serge Nigg (°1924)
Tolia Nikiprowetsky (°1916)
Bernard parmegiani (°1927)
Michel Philippot (°1925)
Claude Prey (°1925)
Jeannine Rueff (°1922)
Louis Saguer (°?)
Pierre Sancan (°1916)
Patrice Sciortino (°1922)
Maurice Thiriet (°1906)
Antoine Tisné (°1922)
Alain Weber (°1930)
Pierre Wissmer (°1915)
Michel Zbar (°1942)
From Claude Rostand's 1970 Dictionaire de la musique contemporaine.
Peter
Quote from: pjme on August 04, 2010, 10:55:25 AM
There are many more French composers from that period ( born ca 1910-1930) . We know hardly a thing about them...But, yes, there's French musique "beyond" Messiaen and Boulez.
The styles vary wildly, of course, and not all of them are in the Messiaen/Boulez-league. Jolivet's best works ( the ambitious ones - cello concerti, violinconcerto, Songe a nouveau rêvé for soprano & orch., Le coeur de la matière, the symphonies, Suite en concert for cello, Rhapsodie à sept, the two pianosonatas etc) are strong, individual, highly expressive and original compositions.
Gilbert Amy ( °1936)
Claude Ballif ( °1924)
Henry Barraud (°1900)
Jacques Bondon (°1927)
André Boucourechliev (°1925)
Pierre Capdevielle (°1906)
André Casanova ( °1919)
Jacques Castérède (°1926)
Charles Chaynes ( °1925)
Adrienne Clostre ( °1921)
Marius Constant ( °1925)
Alfred Desenclos ( °1912)
Yvonne Desportes (°1907)
Luc Ferrari (°1929)
Raymond Gallois -Montbrun (°1918)
Jean Pierre Guézec (°1934)
Jean Jacques Grunenwald ( (°1911)
Pierre Hasquenoph (°1922)
Jacques Dupont (°1910)
Betsy Jolas ( °1926)
Ginette Keller (°1925)
René Koering (°1940)
Alain kremsky-Petitgirard (°1940)
Maurice Leroux (°1923)
Alain Louvier (°1945)
Ivo Malec (°1925)
Luc André Marcel (°1919)
Jean Etienne Marie (°1917)
Paul Méfano (°1937)
Patrice Mestral (°1945)
Serge Nigg (°1924)
Tolia Nikiprowetsky (°1916)
Bernard parmegiani (°1927)
Michel Philippot (°1925)
Claude Prey (°1925)
Jeannine Rueff (°1922)
Louis Saguer (°?)
Pierre Sancan (°1916)
Patrice Sciortino (°1922)
Maurice Thiriet (°1906)
Antoine Tisné (°1922)
Alain Weber (°1930)
Pierre Wissmer (°1915)
Michel Zbar (°1942)
From Claude Rostand's 1970 Dictionaire de la musique contemporaine.
Peter
oh, that's quite an exciting list! I saw the first two names, and I thought you were just gonna do the do,... but yea, that is some great food for thought.
I am really interested in the first two, and their discographies are woefully underfunded. I picture Ballif as Boulez with different hair issues, and Amy exists only in legend. Any insight? I know the Kronos did B's SQ3 or 4...
Perhaps Dutilleux and Landowski belong also?
Anyhow, thanks again! ;)
Sticking with the topic of Jolivet, he made some outstanding concerto music and my guess is that it's his greatest legacy. Three Erato LPs were issued in his hommage briefly after his death and they're all about his concertos
2 for trumpet, with Maurice Andre;
a suite and a concerto for flute, with Rampal;
a concerto for ondes Martenot, with Jeanne Loriot;
a concerto for harp, with Lily Laskine;
and 2 concertos for cello, with Navarra and Rostropovich.
Just look at the name of these artists and you realize that we're in the big league here.
He worked with the lesser known Paul Le Flem and with the better known Edgar Varese. Arthur Honegger wrote that Jolivet had "the primary gift essential to any writer or composer. In a substantial proportion of his works the entire man is present, with his gesture, his soul, his beliefs, his rituals -- even his very superstitions."
I just got a knock-out punch Jolivet 2-fer.
The first cd is a Virgin entitled "The Contemporary Trumpet" (Graham Ashton) which contains J's Heptade for trumpet and percussion (1974). This piece is pretty groovy, with J showing himself as a great percussion writer. One of the slow sections has some really high, and beautiful, trumpet writing. I didn't know the trumpet could sound like that!
The second cd is from ASV, called "Chamber Music", which includes Petite Suite (fl, vla, hrp), Fantasie-Caprice (fl, pf), Flute Sonata, Alla Rustica (fl, hrp), and his Flute Concerto No.2, the Suite en Concert, for flute and 4 percussionists! The Suite en Concert is a great companion to the trumpet piece. Jolivet just can't seem to help himself in writing ritualistic, mysterious, and searching music. There is a companion cd on ASV, which includes the other big pieces (Chant de Linos, Pastoreles de Noel), but, I think this is the one to have. Jolivet in a nutshell.
The Flute Sonata (1958) is really quite cool. Though I would put this squarely in the Hindemith, Martinu, Poulenc, Prokofiev camp (those being the four best known 20th century flute sonatas), and though Chant de Linos is J's ubiquitous flute piece, this Sonata has a rarified and mysterious sound that no one else has achieved. Though it "sounds" typically 1960s in it's cool and distant demeanor, no one else seems to have really gone this direction. I would like to hear a few more flute sonatas from this period to see if other composers went this route. This is really quite a sonata!
The Petite Suite sounds just like yer good ole French Impressionism, which works well with J's other piece, Pastoreles de Noel (fl, bs, hrp). This would work on any one of those chamber harp discs.
It now seems that I have all of J's chamber music with harp, and I'm going to use Jolivet as my secret weapon in this repertoire. He seems to be the last word in 20th century Frenchiness (without going the Messiaen/Boulez route).
So, check out the ASV disc,...mmm,...though I think I got the only used copy available. :-[ ::) Jolivet is surely worth your time and effort.
Just since Varese was right there,... Jolivet was Varese's only European student.
Quote from: snyprrr on August 15, 2010, 10:14:08 PM
Just since Varese was right there,... Jolivet was Varese's only European student.
bump
Did a little Jolivet listening.
Violin Concerto - check out Faust on Harmonia Mundi- very sultry, from 1970s
Cello Concerto
Piano Concerto- fistfuls of metal meatballs, very pre-Boulez
I liked all the big pieces. Some of the Chamber Music seemed a bit intense and loud- there was an oboe disc that just hit my wrong frequency, but I have an ASV disc of music with flute that's really nice and cool. His solo flute works are probably what he's best known for, and are essential for anyone interested there.
I don't think there's a Jolivet SQ, but if there is, I'm sure it hasn't been recorded.
Anyone have any out of the way Jolivet? Frankly, that Erato Box gets more and more tempting.
I've got the Erato set. Good stuff.
A few pieces with at least a few other facets than the brilliant, snappy and usually good-humored and ebullient Jolivet:
Missa Uxor tua This performance of this mass is remarkable for the clean intonation of both chorus and soloists.
(complete)https://www.youtube.com/v/hLC7-kYEmFU
Suite Delphique for twelve instruments, including Ondes Martenot.
...incidental music for the play Iphigenia at Delphi by Gerhart Hauptmann.
The work is, to the requirement of the task at hand, evocative of place, moods (and hey, Greek Tragedy.) If not a contradiction, in quick spot checking it after all these years, it still strikes me as listenable and 'fun.'
parts I - III https://www.youtube.com/v/WkLmPBYRUcM
parts IV - VI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOF5vkMq1LA
parts VII & VIII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ni1Ceccku0
Even if he wasn't a solid composer, he should be a household name for having an ondes martenot concerto anyway :)
The entire Erato set is amazing though... Haven't heard much else besides those four discs though, tbh.
Quote from: nathanb on September 08, 2016, 07:02:30 PM
Even if he wasn't a solid composer, he should be a household name for having an ondes martenot concerto anyway :)
The entire Erato set is amazing though... Haven't heard much else besides those four discs though, tbh.
All I have is the flute/harp ASV disc with Noakes, great, and the 'Heptade' for trumpet/perc., and a bassoon piece or two, very nice. I know he's got some rought stuff too, all these are very nice and French, bracing... oh, and the famous 'Chant de...??'...
I know that Erato set... maybe someday...
His FC has a streamlined, moden feel to it, like a race car riding through a haunted landscape. Best ending ever...
Almost getting the EratoBox...
Flute Sonata also one of my favs...
Jolivet is fascinating as an artist. The connection to Varese is interesting; both were interested in 'dark' and irrational aspects of the human psyche, and our repressed, forgotten, primitive impulses, called 'the unconscious.' Their music is incantatory, as if it were a tool or metaphysical technology which could help us tap in to these mysterious regions of the being.
From WIK, we read: [Jolivet's intent as a composer throughout his career was to "give back to music its original, ancient meaning, when it was the magical, incantatory expression of the religious beliefs of human groups."]
Quote from: millionrainbows on October 14, 2017, 10:11:55 AM
Jolivet is fascinating as an artist. The connection to Varese is interesting; both were interested in 'dark' and irrational aspects of the human psyche, and our repressed, forgotten, primitive impulses, called 'the unconscious.' Their music is incantatory, as if it were a tool or metaphysical technology which could help us tap in to these mysterious regions of the being.
From WIK, we read: [Jolivet's intent as a composer throughout his career was to "give back to music its original, ancient meaning, when it was the magical, incantatory expression of the religious beliefs of human groups."]
did he know Crowley? hmm.....
Quote from: snyprrr on October 16, 2017, 07:28:20 AM
did he know Crowley? hmm.....
To be fair to Varese, Jolivet, and the theories of the unconscious which started with Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and developed through Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Surrealism, Dada, Mallarme, and Abstract Expressionism, my comments are not intended to imply Satanism. That's a distortion-and-a-half; I hope you are joking.
A shame this remarkable composer has so few comments on his thread. Just heard his Cello Concerto No. 2 (1966) and what an incredibly stern piece this is. Astringent, severe, challenging, even I dare to say, nightmarish and harrowing. A work of this caliber needs several listens to grasp it better. A sensational creation.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BNBFSSDZL.jpg)
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 06, 2022, 06:08:02 PM
A shame this remarkable composer has so few comments on his thread. Just heard his Cello Concerto No. 2 (1966) and what an incredibly stern piece this is. Astringent, severe, challenging, even I dare to say, nightmarish and harrowing. A work of this caliber needs several listens to grasp it better. A sensational creation.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BNBFSSDZL.jpg)
Jolivet is a fascinating composer, Cesar. All I own of his music is that 4-CD Erato set that probably everyone with an interest in this composer bought many years ago. He, at times, reminds me of Isang Yun actually or, at least, in the
Cello Concerto No. 2 you mention. Something about those sustained tones over glissandos that brought Yun to mind.
Quote from: Mirror Image on May 06, 2022, 07:10:21 PM
Jolivet is a fascinating composer, Cesar. All I own of his music is that 4-CD Erato set that probably everyone with an interest in this composer bought many years ago. He, at times, reminds me of Isang Yun actually or, at least, in the Cello Concerto No. 2 you mention. Something about those sustained tones over glissandos that brought Yun to mind.
Precisely, the association makes much sense when textures, effects and atmosphere converge and impress. Two remarkable musical figures.
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 06, 2022, 07:20:25 PM
Precisely, the association makes much sense when textures, effects and atmosphere converge and impress. Two remarkable musical figures.
Whole-heartedly agree with you! 8)
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on May 06, 2022, 06:08:02 PM
A shame this remarkable composer has so few comments on his thread. Just heard his Cello Concerto No. 2 (1966) and what an incredibly stern piece this is. Astringent, severe, challenging, even I dare to say, nightmarish and harrowing. A work of this caliber needs several listens to grasp it better. A sensational creation.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BNBFSSDZL.jpg)
Interesting, Cesar. What I've heard by Jolivet so far (1st Symphony, Violin Concerto) has certainly been
challenging to say the least. I can't say I
enjoyed the music, but due to your enthusiasm I'll give that Cello Concerto a fair shot. :)
Quote from: kyjo on May 07, 2022, 08:17:43 AM
Interesting, Cesar. What I've heard by Jolivet so far (1st Symphony, Violin Concerto) has certainly been challenging to say the least. I can't say I enjoyed the music, but due to your enthusiasm I'll give that Cello Concerto a fair shot. :)
Give a listen to the
Bassoon Concerto while you're at it. 8)
Quote from: Mirror Image on May 07, 2022, 01:28:34 PM
Give a listen to the Bassoon Concerto while you're at it. 8)
Oh, I forgot - I
love the Bassoon Concerto! In fact, it's my favorite concerto for the instrument (that I know) and is more accessible than Jolivet's other works that I've heard. It's jazzy, colorful, and totally unique!
Quote from: kyjo on May 07, 2022, 08:52:44 PM
Oh, I forgot - I love the Bassoon Concerto! In fact, it's my favorite concerto for the instrument (that I know) and is more accessible than Jolivet's other works that I've heard. It's jazzy, colorful, and totally unique!
8) A cool work, indeed.
Quote from: kyjo on May 07, 2022, 08:52:44 PM
Oh, I forgot - I love the Bassoon Concerto! In fact, it's my favorite concerto for the instrument (that I know) and is more accessible than Jolivet's other works that I've heard. It's jazzy, colorful, and totally unique!
Another of his alluring concertos is the one for Ondes Martenot and Orchestra. Quite a cool piece.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zjaszdViL._SS500_.jpg)
Earlier I was giving the Trumpet Concerto No. 2 a spin from this splendid set, and quite a contrast it is regarding other of his more-modernist pieces. How fun and catchy it is, above all the 3rd mov. which is aptly marked Giocoso. It contains a rhythmic motif that will stick in your mind for awhile. All the piece is imbued with American rhythms and gestures, it's a complete delight.
BTW, this is the best Jolivet set out there hands down. Anyone interested in exploring this composer should start with it.
https://www.youtube.com/v/gh_DRlxIRhE
https://www.youtube.com/v/VDh7YfcJyBI
https://www.youtube.com/v/7ztNTUGMS-0
https://www.youtube.com/v/17sq6r9ghO8
https://www.youtube.com/v/IO46H-55gjc
https://www.youtube.com/v/04fvoEdfE7g
Some of my favorite jolivet works.
Today I discovered his Serenade for oboe and piano and Suite Liturgique for chorus, oboe, cello and harp from these recordings respectively:
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODAzNDEzOS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0MDE5ODI1NDN9)(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk1MTU1NC4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0NjEwODQyMDV9)
Very cool stuff, above all the singular Suite Liturgique. The chorus provides a mystic effect to the music and the result is quite beautiful. The Serenade for oboe and piano features more piquant gestures and it's a lot of fun, mostly for the movements Caprice and Marche burlesque.
with the Brno orchestra / Jilek
Heurté (abrupt, clashing...)
Fluide
Vigoureux
Percurama / Jean Thorel
and in Grafenegg with Colin Currie conducting
Jolivet is a tremendously compelling composer who will not appeal much to those seeking comfort or singable tunes. Listening to his Symphony No. 3 on the recording below could scare some listeners, but it shouldn't, it is music with pourpose and not completely forbidding. This is irregular, chaotic, abrasive, unpredictable and, at times, riotous music that often reflects a ritualistic quality helped by the robust percussión section. I'm surprised by the quality of this live recording, very clear, in great sound, and the performance is just smoking (the composer conducting). Recommended for the adventurous listener.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71NzIiNWd1L._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg)
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 14, 2024, 05:15:50 PMJolivet is a tremendously compelling composer
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 14, 2024, 05:15:50 PMat times, riotous music that often reflects a ritualistic quality
Agreed.
For me, the first cello concerto remains a favorite as it demostrates so well Jolivets ability to combine austere, yet rich lyricism with rythmical intensity. His music is full of singable tunes...
I have a great version of the third symphony conducted by Antal Dorati/French Nat. Orch. . A couple of years ago (2012) , Pascal Rophé and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performed the work
https://www.overgrownpath.com/2012/01/alive-with-sound-of-andre-jolivets.html
Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 14, 2024, 05:15:50 PMJolivet is a tremendously compelling composer who will not appeal much to those seeking comfort or singable tunes. Listening to his Symphony No. 3 on the recording below could scare some listeners, but it shouldn't, it is music with pourpose and not completely forbidding. This is irregular, chaotic, abrasive, unpredictable and, at times, riotous music that often reflects a ritualistic quality helped by the robust percussión section. I'm surprised by the quality of this live recording, very clear, in great sound, and the performance is just smoking (the composer conducting). Recommended for the adventurous listener.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71NzIiNWd1L._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg)
I think you can describe his 1st symphony like this, too. I have a few Jolivet discs, but have not heard his 3rd symphony. Thanks !
Quote from: pjme on September 16, 2024, 04:02:54 AMAgreed.
For me, the first cello concerto remains a favorite as it demostrates so well Jolivets ability to combine austere, yet rich lyricism with rythmical intensity. His music is full of singable tunes...
I have a great version of the third symphony conducted by Antal Dorati/French Nat. Orch. . A couple of years ago (2012) , Pascal Rophé and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performed the work
https://www.overgrownpath.com/2012/01/alive-with-sound-of-andre-jolivets.html
We are in agreeement on Jolivet at least!
Most of the works I've heard so far have proven to be pretty substantial and, quite often, challenging, including the cello concertos. The way he used dissonances appeals to my tastes, something I don't feel with other modern-contemporary composers.
Quote from: André on September 16, 2024, 07:11:52 AMI think you can describe his 1st symphony like this, too. I have a few Jolivet discs, but have not heard his 3rd symphony. Thanks !
His three orchestral symphonies and the Symphony for strings share this acerbic yet engrossing quality that keeps me returning to them from time to time.
Cross-posted from the WAYL thread:
Jolivet's first symphony (1953) is a classically built work (4 movements, 25 minutes, with standard italian tempo markings). All attempts at finding anything 'classical' about it end there, I think. Its 4 movements are packed thick with ideas, mostly of the surging, motoric, acerbic kind. The orchestration is quite dense (3-3-3-3-4-4-3-1, timpani, harp, strings) and used unsparingly. Prokofiev's Scythian Suite sounds airy and balletic in comparison.
OK, I'm exaggerating a bit (barely). The fact is that this is a dense, action-packed score, full of bright colours and pounding rythms. Despite all the dissonance and drive, it is resolutely tonal and tightly held together. Just don't expect french elegance or refinement.
Conductor Georges Tzipine is an old hand at that kind of thing. He was a masterful conductor of the french repertoire of his time: Schmitt, Roussel, Honegger, Milhaud, Ibert etc. I've never heard anything by him that didn't sound totally committed. He was the kind of conductor who believed the work at hand was a masterpiece. The orchestra play like demons (great wind section) and the stereo sound is very fine.
The coupling is from an unknown french russian (or ukrainian?)émigré composer and is written in a more abstract, dissonant idiom. There is a prominent piano part. Marius Constant conducts with precision.
Worth listening to for the Jolivet symphony. This particular performance can be found on YT
Neat review on your namesake's work, André. I cannot see the recording you mentioned, though (I'll check it out on YouTube).
(https://i.discogs.com/HYlCQQiujZI5ZW-Ks9ALBtLxHh0H3UTR3BT2VXioCY0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:525/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEzMDIz/NzYwLTE1NDY2NjIx/NTMtNzU5OS5qcGVn.jpeg)
(https://i.discogs.com/7b17koF48KcqK9gpD-Y3pftl5dIylqOPAv3w0juWsW8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:537/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEzMDIz/NzYwLTE1NDY2NjIx/NTMtMTkwMi5qcGVn.jpeg)
Some of these recordings (the first symphony, the flute concerto and the Ritual dances) date back to 1966, when Jolivet visited the URSS Union of composers and conducted the Moscou radio orchestra.
The second cello concerto was recorded in Paris in 1969.
It is good to hear another take on the pianoconcerto - even if Entremont/Jolivet and Descaves/Bour remain my favorites.
Danish composer Herman D.Koppel recorded it with the Danish Radio Orch/Tuxen (probably ca 1960) - a fine performance marred by technical problems.
(https://i.discogs.com/NKcHXnee-i8WZacHd89OIF2mbSS52JPOfKEsqIGH0nU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:596/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEwOTY5/MDU5LTE1MDczOTg1/NjgtMjI5MC5qcGVn.jpeg)
Dutch pianist Daniel Waeyenberg (he knew jolivet) perfomed the concerto with Haitink and the Koncertgebouw orchestra.
https://archive.org/details/cd_french-composers-vol-2_louis-durey-henri-martelli-jean-rivier-hen
Working my way through this set:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BNBFSSDZL.jpg)
and realising I've found my newest rabbit hole.
Excellent!
Now this set:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/815qkI+NSfL._SL1500_.jpg)
The Suite Petite of 1947 is jarringly melodic, though pleasantly so. Also very French--not in the sense of Berlioz, Milhaud, Poulenc, etc., but in that it could accompany Parisian street scenes in a movie.
As for Chant de Linos, this is a rare case where I prefer the later arrangement/transcription--not that the original duet version isn't great.
A good set that, but one that suffers from a so-so sound quality.
Early Jolivet- and very beautiful. Roussev's violin version is very intense.