1915 Tal & Groethuysen

• Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Six épigraphes antiques for Piano Four Hands, L. 131
• 1I. Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d'été02:11
• 2II. Pour un tombeau sans nom03:02
• 3III. Pour que la nuit soit propice02:00
• 4IV. Pour la danseuse aux crotales02:08
• 5V. Pour l'Égyptienne02:30
• 6VI. Pour remercier la pluie au matin02:02
• Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947): Le ruban dénoué, 12 Waltzes for Two Pianos
• 7I. Decrets indolents du hasard01:23
• 8II. Les soirs d'albi02:37
• 9III. Souvenir - Avenir02:37
• 10IV. Danse de l'amour et du chagrin - V. Le demi-sommeil embaumé05:55
• 11VI. L'anneau perdu01:37
• 12VII. Danse du doute et de l'espérance01:41
• 13VIII. La cage ouverte02:00
• 14IX. Soir d'orage02:18
• 15X. Les baisers - XI. Il sorriso05:01
• 16XII. Le seul amour05:22
• Debussy: En blanc et noir for Two Pianos, L. 134
• 17I. Avec emportement04:20
• 18II. Lent. Sombre07:19
• 19III. Scherzando03:54
• Hahn: Pour bercer un convalescent for Two Pianos
• 20I. Andantino sans lenteur01:29
• 21II. Andantino non lento01:46
• 22III. Andantino espressivo01:14
• Total Runtime01:04:26

Info for 1915

In January 1915, exactly 100 years ago, Reynaldo Hahn (1874 – 1947) composed three “lullabies” for a badly wounded soldier. These delightful miniatures, full of esprit and intimacy, are an example of French musicians' intensive and highly individual involvement with the topic of “war”. Hahn himself was called up and was sent to the front line, where - despite a martial daily routine – he found time and leisure to compose an extensive suite of waltzes entitled “Le ruban dénoué” (the untied ribbon). It is a remarkable cycle, in which, however, no trace of the turmoil and sufferings of war can be detected. Instead the music alternates gently between dreamily sentimental dances and seductively lyrical ones and presents a contrast to the reality of the times rather than a reflection of it. Reynaldo Hahn, who is known – if at all – as a composer of songs and chansons, developed an extremely complex and idiosyncratic piano style, which sounds simple and obvious only on the surface, but which in its detail is full of surprises and sometimes even mysterious (for the performer).

By way of contrast, Debussy's gems, which are stylistically far more avant-garde, feel more straightforward. The enigmatic triptych “En blanc et noir”, a “wartime work” par excellence, is a complex piece, filled with countless intellectual and conceptual elements in the form of (musical) quotations, verbal mottos, contradictory directions for the performer, written accompanying notes, etc., etc. The cultural and political background to this work is Debussy's declaration of war on everything German in general and in particular on Richard Wagner as the country's chief artistic proponent.

In their freedom from conventional musical language, the “Six Épigraphes antiques”, which are far removed from any reality, go one step further and create a strange blend of description and abstraction.

A glance at the precise titles of the movements and the attached texts (see below) opens up a view of a space full of poetry that adds to the already sensual soundscape an additional rush of inspiration and stimulus to the imagination.

Duo Tal & Groethuysen, piano

Recorded 07.-09. Januar 2015 at Bayerischer Rundfunk Studio 2, Munich
Engineered by Jörg Moser

Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen
The Israeli pianist Yaara Tal and her German partner Andreas Groethuysen are one of the world´s leading piano duos and perform regularly at such prominent venues as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Philharmonies Berlin, Cologne and Munich, Teatro alla Scala Milano, Musikhalle Hamburg, Hongkong Arts Festival, Lucerne Festival, Frick Collection New York, Forbidden City Concert Hall Peking, Piano-Festival La Roque d´Anthéron, Salzburger Festspiele, Musikverein Vienna, Tonhalle Zürich - to name only a few.

Besides an unsurpassed homogenity and spontanity in their playing, the duo displays great creativity in their recital programmes which feature unjustly neglected musical treasures in addition to the standard repertoire.

The exclusive cooperation with the record company SONY CLASSICAL makes up an important part of their international success: The Duo Tal & Groethuysen has released numerous recordings of piano music for four hands (largely world première recordings e.g. of pieces by Carl Czerny, Reinhard Febel, Theodore Gouvy, Charles Koechlin, Felix Mendelssohn, Max Reger, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner) which have brought them great acclaim from critics and the public alike.

Their CD's have won the coveted “Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” no less than nine times, while the German Phono Academy has awarded its “Echo Klassik”-Prize to five of their recordings, including the complete recordings of Schubert´s music for four hands and the complete Mozart piano duos. Other awards from outside Germany, such as the “Cannes Classical Award“,“Editor´s Choice“ by Gramophone and the “Supersonic Award“ reflect their high international reputation.

The latest releases included in 2013 'Götterdämmerung', with two-piano transcriptions of Wagner's operas ('Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik' 2013), in 2014 the double concerto by Mozart combined with the rarely performed concerto for four-hand piano and orchestra by Carl Czerny, and Rossini's 'Petite messe solennelle' together with the choir of the Bavarian Radio under Peter Dijkstra.

Booklet for 1915