Baroque Real Repertoire

SKU: HL.48183212

Couperin's Concert Pieces for Cello and String Quartet accompaniment is an exciting addition to the string repertoire for its slightly unusual instrumentation. Francois Couperin (1668-1733) is often nicknamed 'Couperin the Great' to distinguish him from other members of the musical family. Concert Piecesis made up of five movements; 1) Prelude, 2) Sicilienne, 3) The Trumpet, 4) The Complaint, and 5) Devil's Air. Couperin's moods are expressed through choices of keys, adventurous harmonies and discords. With a significant amount of variation and inspiration, Concert Pieces is essential to the repertoire of aspiring, advanced String Quartets and solo cellists..

SKU: BO.B.3726

Written in 2001, this work was conceived by the need to enlarge the repertoire of works for solo cello, an important goal since the repertoire of such works is limited. Most cellists are limited to performances of such well-known solo works as the Suites of Bach, written almost 300 years ago, as well as other classics of the genre by Max Reger, Zoltan Kodaly, Benjamin Britten, Gaspar Cassado, Enric Casals, etc.

The intention of the Suite Exotique is to revolutionize the concept of the Baroque suite by transforming the suite into a collection of modern dances, which are both contemporary and widely recognized today. Thus, the dances of the Baroque suite, such as Allemande, Courante, Sarabande are substituted for the Tango, Milonga, Blues in such a way that the traditional formal structure of six movements of Baroque dances is modernized by rhythms and contemporary styles which coexist in the Modern world, but are separate from and do not pertain to those works which are normally considered to belong to the realm of cultured music.

Apart from the fusion represented by the mixture of a Baroque genre with modern, urban musical language found in this work, the subtitle exotica is appropriate due to the originality of writing such a work for cello solo. This work allows the interpreter to explore and take full advantage of their technical, artistic and expressive abilities.

This work establishes a total symbiosis between the instrument and the evolutionary transformation of its musical language which in turn creates a style adapted to the expressive requirements of the work itself. The specific techniques and qualities of the cello are placed in service of the required style and concept of each movement of the Suite. At the same time those stylistic characteristics are transformed and adapted to the particular characteristics of the cello and taking full advantage of the instruments polyphonic, sonic, aesthetic qualities as well as its timbre.

The Suite Exotique was premiered in August, 2003 during the International Music Festival of Ibiza by the Russian cellist Svetlana Tovstukha.