For quite some time posterity remembered Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) for just a handful of songs and the operetta Ciboulette overlooking the incredible diversity of a catalogue as eclectic as it is appealing. Yet his chamber music contains many little-known treasures: thus cellist Steven Isserlis in his preface hastens to hail the first modern edition of these two scores which he regularly plays in recital so much does their beauty enchant the audience. Published in 1911 the Two Improvisations on Irish Airs for cello and piano turn out to be the transcription of his first and third Preludes for piano four hands (1894). Thesefolk themes come from the collection Songs of Old Ireland published 12 years earlier by Charles Villiers Stanford: gracefully and tenderly The Little Red Lark unfurls a melancholic tune of which the regular foundation respects the breadth of phrase typical of folk songs; in The Willow-Tree the lover begs his beloved in vain to take him in her arms one last time before he lies down lifeless in the shade of the tree. Beyond this sensitive exploration of the Irish soul Hahn offers us a journey into the past: the Variations chantantes sur un air ancien develop a theme borrowed from Cavalli’s opera Xerse. In this aria (1660 version: Act IV sc. 6) Ambassador Periarco dreams of moving away from court intrigues to be able to taste the pleasures ‘to which the gods have destined him’. Reynaldo Hahn’s variations succeed in maintaining the sweet simplicity of this theme as noble as it is refined.

The Romanian Folk Dances undoubtedly rank amongst Bartok's most popular compositions. The earliest version is scored for Piano (1915) and was published by Universal Edition is 1918. The composer himself orchestrated this version in 1917. Several other chamber music arrangements (for example Zoltan Szekely's version for Violin and Piano) were not by Bartok although he authorised them. The musical material derives from Bartok's collections of folk music which date right back to 1904 when he wrote down a melody sung by a Hungarian peasant girl. In the course of extensive travels throughout Eastern Europe Bartokcompiled an enormous collection of folk tunes (by 1918 his collection comprised no fewer than 2700 Hungarian 3500 Romanian and 3000 Slovak dances and songs) which would in all probability have been lost had Bartok not written them down. As it was some of them found their way into his compositions. In 1908 Bartok jotted down tunes in Transylvania. They are the source of Romanian Folk Dances.

Hungarian Rondo was composed by Zoltán Kodály in December 1917, drawing on material from the incidental music he had written for Zsigmond Móriczs play Pacsirtaszó (Skylarking). The rondo form is shaped out of four new-style Hungarian folk songs and an instrumental dance melody. Kodály prepared the piece in two somewhat different versions, one for two clarinets, two bassoons and string orchestra, and the other for cello and piano. The orchestral version received its first performance in Vienna on 12 January 1918 at a 'historical concert' organized by the War Ministry of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The cello version was premi?red by Miklós Zsámboky and Ottó Herz at the Budapest Academy of Music on 4 November 1927. Neither version appeared in print in the composers lifetime. The version for string orchestra was edited in 1976 by Ferenc Farkas and István Máriássy (and is distributed as a hire material under the order number K-1). The cello version appears here in print for the first time. The publication is based on the composers surviving manuscript and a contemporary manuscript copy of this. The fingerings are by the editor. / Violoncelle Et Piano

Suite pour violoncelle et piano. Par LAKS SIMON. Simon Laks (1901-1983), who moved from Warsaw to Paris in 1926 at the age of 25, belonged to the large group of composers from Central and Eastern European countries who went down in 20th-century music history as the „École de Paris“. Slavic temperament amalgamated in their music with French esprit, the folklore of their native countries combined with the stylistic elements of neoclassicism and jazz typical of the time. As a member of the „Association of Young Polish Musicians“, Laks quickly made his way into French musical life. However, his career was ended with the beginning of World War 2 due to the collaboration of the Vichy government with Nazi Germany. Internment in 1941 was followed by deportation to Auschwitz in 1942. Laks survived the Shoah as a member and later leader of a camp band in Birkenau, which he testified to in his moving book Music in Auschwitz. After the traumatic experiences, Laks did not return to regular compositional activity until the 1960s, producing an opera, songs, and chamber music works, some of which were awarded important composition prizes. At the peak of this optimistic creative phase, he composed incidental music for Peretz Hirschbein's famous Yiddish comedy Dem Schmids Techter (The Blacksmith's Daughters), which premiered in New York in 1918, for a new production of the play at the Théâtre de l’Entrepôt in Paris. Along with Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes and Shostakovich's cycle From Yiddish (Jewish) Folk Poetry, it is one of the most significant 20th-century explorations of art music with Jewish folklore – homage to a culture irreparably destroyed. From the original score, Holger Groschopp compiled two suites, for violoncello and piano and piano solo, that capture the essence of Lak‘s enchanting drama music. The premiere recording of the suites with Holger Groschopp and Adele Bitter was awarded the Opus Klassik 2023 in the category Editorial Achievement of the Year. . / Date parution : 2024-01-06/ Répertoire / Violoncelle et Piano

Le quatrième volume de cette série de compositeurs femelles est dédié aux oeuvres de la XIXe et XXe siècles. Les pièces par Violetta Dinescu, Caroline Ansink, Myriam Marbe et Lucie Robert-Diessel ont été composées spécialement pour cette anthologie. / Violoncelle Et Piano

La musique dans ce livre est séduisante, parfois vraiment grande musique qui se trouve juste être simple. Aucun des pièces est simplement ' enseignement ' - presque al d'entre eux avait une vie réussie de leurs propres avant ils ont trouvé leur chemin ici - et ils ont été choisis pour leurs forces individuelles, purement musicales. Toutefois, le livre est plus qu'une collection de pièces remplit - les pièces qu'il compte près de graduée et très varié dans leurs demandes, afin que tout joueur qui travaille à travers eux auront la chance de consolider et de leur technique de Pologne. Ils sont aussi plus généralement variées dans le style. Ils donneront quelque plaisir inattendu et signpost certaines voies intéressantes et agréables qui pourraient autrement sont demeurées inexplorées. / Violoncelle Et Piano