Jacques Ibert: Trois Pièces Brèves (1930)

00:00 - I. Allegro 02:22 - II. Andante 04:07 - III. Assez lent _____ Ensemble: Les Vents Français (members below) Flute: Emmanuel Pahud Clarinet: Paul Meyer Oboe: Francois Leleux Bassoon: Gilbert Audin Horn: Radovan Vlatkovic Year of Recording: 2014 _____ “These three attractive, modest, and brightly orchestrated chamber works are scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. They possess the charm and sense of humor of much of the composer’s œuvre, such as the Histoires, which includes the well-known Little White Donkey (Le petit âne blanc) and the musical farce Angélique (1926) in the spirit of Offenbach. The works also evoke direct emotions associated with the countryside and simple mythological scenes. The first “brief“ piece, of approximately two-and-a-half minutes’ duration, is marked Assez lent in tempo and is performed at a moderately lively clip, like music for a farce. The punctuated high dissonances of the introduction which descend into a tongue-in-cheek imitation of a banal vaudeville, or perhaps operetta or tiny march band’s opening, make the ears immediately sit up and take notice. The bassoon and horn then pump out an elegantly modulated version of a Gilbert and Sullivan-type accompaniment, and the clarinet plays a lively springtime tune answered by grace-note bird calls in the oboe. The flute interweaves a fast line with little earnest accents concluding the melody. A bridge on somewhat more serious chords alerts the listener that something out of place may be happening, but the music never relents its energetic push. The flute plays chromatic, almost atonal, lines and then sustains a note by itself before coming in with a lively triple meter theme almost like a waltz. The bridge, back in duple meter and pulsing, reappears with the oboe this time signaling that all may not be jolly. But a comment by the flute brings the tonality back around to the introductory tonality. The first theme is heard again played by the clarinet and then the flute with tiny comments by the bassoon. The clarinet chimes in with the waltz theme and then a quick, flashy “let’s have a big hand for the performers, folks“-type coda ends the piece. The second piece is a gentle pastoral in Andante tempo without a hint of the plaintive, of slightly over a minute and a half’s duration. The movement opens with two lyrical lines in an extended counterpoint for flute and clarinet. The horn and bassoon then sustain a warm, bourdon-like drone in the bass while the oboe, and then the clarinet and flute, create a flowing texture above the sustaining tones. The whole ensemble cadences on a tender major harmony. The third and last piece unfolds in an Allegro tempo. The main theme in fast duple time winds about in rotating figures and is similar to a sailor’s piping tune, or perhaps a spirited village dance with high stepping movements. The basic pattern of the tune first occurs on the lower steps of a major mode and is then repeated on the higher tones with a flat seventh step throwing the mode into wild abandon in the Mixolydian mode. The coda deliberately speeds up to create a comically “showy“ conclusion.“ (Gene “Blue“ Tyranny) _____ © COPYRIGHT Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. Allowance is made for “fair use“ for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.