for piano and woodwind quintet. Par JALBERT PIERRE. Wind Dances is in seven short contrasting movements, each containing dance-like rhythms, both slow and fast. Having two sons who both play the clarinet, I've heard many a woodwind quintet, so I've been wanting to write for the medium for quite a while. In this instance, I also added my own instrument, the piano. The work opens with a fast movement containing driving rhythms in the winds, which are then answered by the piano. The second movement features colorful effects in the winds and piano (slap tongue, air sounds, muted tones) leading to a long extended lyrical line, gradually orchestrated to involve all the winds. The third movement is a dynamic scherzo, with a separate middle section similar to a traditional Trio section. The slowly unfolding fourth movement is the longest of the piece and anchors the middle of the work. The fifth movement is a kind of echo of the third movement, though this time the dynamic scherzo is high and light, rather than low and dark. The sixth movement is related to the second movement, and is basically a solo cadenza for the clarinet, with a few accompanimental gestures in the piano. The seventh and final movement reprises material from the first movement, this time with new and driving dance-like gestures added. - Pierre Jalbert / Niveau : Avancé / Répertoire / Flûte Traversière (Piccolo), Hautbois, Clarinette,

part II of the cycle Profiles of Light. Par PINTSCHER MATTHIAS. 'Now II” is the second part of a triptych of chamber pieces entitled 'Profiles of Light”. The first part is written for solo piano (Now I, BA 11073), the second for unaccompanied cello. The two instruments are then combined in the concluding third part, Uriel (BA 11013). All three pieces were inspired by the Abstract Expressionist paintings of the American artist Barnett Newman. Newman's work has had a formative impact on Matthias Pintscher's artistic philosophy: what does it mean to reduce things to essentials while seeking maximum immediacy of expression? Several of Newman's paintings have a radiant light of uncommon intensity, yet resembling a dark illumination. The same sort of thing is found in the late works of Franz Schubert, where a comparable profundity and retrospective yearning likewise shine through the surface of even the brightest tonalities. This is a piece about resonances, about the inward and outward givens of existence, about life itself: 'I find the cello a highly suitable instrument for depicting such existential conditions'. / Niveau : 5 / Répertoire / Violoncelle

Par VINE CARL. Carl Vine's engaging Strutt Sonata for cello and piano was premiered at the 2017 Huntington Estate Music Festival by Julian Smiles and Ian Munro. Named after John Strutt and commissioned by his wife Josephine, this single 15-minute movement includes a lyrical aria that returns in darkly mirrored form and a joyous presto finale./ Répertoire / Violoncelle et Piano