MUSIC FOR BASSOON AND PIANO
Saint-Saëns · Dutilleux · Boutry
Carmen Mainer Martín Enrique Escartín Ara
Music for Bassoon and Piano Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) 1. Sarabande et Cortège pour basson et piano, 1942 7’27 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Sonate pour basson avec accompagnement de piano, 1921 2. I. Allegretto moderato 3. II. Allegro scherzando 4. III. Adagio. Allegro moderato
2’54 4’01 6’36
Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986) Sonatine pour basson et piano, 1952 5. I. Allegro con moto 2’23 6. II. Aria (Largo cantabile) 3’05 7. III. Scherzo (Molto vivace) 2’53 Roger Boutry (1932-) 8. Interférences I pour basson et piano, 1972 9’40
Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) 16 Valsas para fagote solo 9. Aquela Modinha que o Villa não Escreveu, 1981 10. Mistério, 1981 11. Valsa Improvisada, 1981
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Sonate für Fagott und Klavier, 1938 12. I. Leicht bewegt 2’01 13. II. Langsam. Marsch. Beschluß, Pastorale-Ruhig 6’15 Alex Nante (1992-) 14. Ocho variaciones sobre la imagen de un sueño, 2017* 12’37 Imagen (Austero) Var. I. Nervoso Var. II. Surreale Var. III. Mercuriale Var. IV. Enigmatico poco rubato Var. V. Evocativo Var. VI. Sognante perturbato Var. VII. Fantastico, rubato Var. VIII. Devoto This piece is dedicated to Ana and Carmen Mainer Martín
Carmen Mainer Martín bassoon Enrique Escartín Ara piano Ana Mainer Martín flute
1’46 2’06 3’07
*World premiere recording
There has been far more music written for the bassoon than the general public, musiclovers or even professional musicians might imagine. It is common to associate the instrument with playing a secondary role, merely providing harmonic support, given its low range and “less than virtuosic” character. In fact, however, we bassoonists are lucky enough to have a repertoire that includes some of the finest works in the History of Music, by composers from Antonio Vivaldi to Isang Yun. This album is the latest step in a journey that began almost twenty years ago, when I held a bassoon in my hands for the very first time. I wanted to record a selection of some of the most important works written for the instrument during the twentieth century – pieces whose characteristics reflect the rapid changes in artistic expression that occurred as this short, exciting century unfolded. The album can, therefore, be seen as an overview of the music that defined that period, but my own personal preferences also came into play as I chose the repertoire heard here. I decided to include Saint-Saëns’s Sonata for bassoon and piano not only because of its undoubted significance in the history of music for bassoon, but also because it was a work I was particularly keen to revisit. This, the composer’s swan-song, opened up a new path in bassoon music in the early part of the century, challenging Stravinsky’s audacious treatment of the bassoon in Le Sacre du printemps and the technical capacity of the instrument – the sonata makes use of its full range – while still owing something to Romanticism at its purest. Hindemith’s Bassoon Sonata, an often undervalued work, is in fact one of the gems of our repertoire. Its dark, sombre sonorities, flecked with moments of timid luminosity with recognisably “tonal” chords, reflect the troubled times through which Europe was living in 1938 and seem to anticipate the disaster then hovering over the world. Dutilleux’s Sarabande et Cortège is an intimate piece that explores two key characteristics of the bassoon’s sound: mournfulness – as heard in the long phrases of the Sarabande – and humour – as heard in the contrasting articulations that define the
Cortège. Written a few years later, Tansman’s Sonatina develops the same ideas, with its songlike melody for bassoon in the second movement and a sense of mischief in the Scherzo finale. The works I’ve chosen by Roger Boutry and Francisco Mignone were composed barely a decade apart, towards the end of the century, but differ hugely in idiom. Boutry explores a variety of rhythmical and melodic combinations as he creates an uninterrupted dialogue between bassoon and piano, generating his soundworld by means of these “interferences”. Mignone, meanwhile, brings together his two main sources of inspiration – European Romanticism and the music of his native Brazil – in the waltzes he composed for solo bassoon towards the end of his life. The album ends with Alex Nante’s Variations for flute, bassoon and piano, a rare addition to the very limited repertoire written for this formation (an earlier example being the Trio written by Beethoven in his youth). I chose this work for two reasons: firstly because Alex and I have been friends since our paths first crossed in Paris, and secondly because I am fascinated by his musical language and his way of seeing the world, both of which are encapsulated in this work, whose premiere I had the pleasure of giving. © written by Carmen Mainer Martín Translation by Susannah Howe
La música escrita para fagot es mucho más abundante que lo que el público general, melómano o incluso profesional, puede llegar a imaginar. Comúnmente se suele asociar al fagot un papel secundario, de mero sustento armónico, dados su tesitura grave y su carácter “poco virtuoso”. No obstante, los fagotistas tenemos la inmensa suerte de contar con algunas de las más bellas obras de la Historia de la Música, desde Antonio Vivaldi a Isang Yun. Este disco es un escalón más en una etapa que comenzó hace casi veinte años, cuando tuve por primera vez un fagot en las manos. En él he querido recopilar algunas de las que constituyen las obras clave escritas para fagot durante el siglo XX y que reflejan, por sus características, la rapidez con que cambian y se suceden las manifestaciones artísticas en este siglo corto y apasionante. Así, este disco puede escucharse como un recorrido por la música que definió el siglo pasado. No obstante, en la elección de la música interpretada – que abarca un espectro de casi cien años – han primado no sólo su importancia en el repertorio fagotístico, sino también la preferencia de estas obras sobre otras que responde a un criterio muy personal. La decisión de incluir la sonata para fagot y piano de Saint-Saëns no responde únicamente a su indudable relevancia en la historia del repertorio para fagot, sino también al deseo de abordar una vez más esta obra que constituye el canto de cisne del compositor e inaugura con una luz especial una nueva vía en la música para fagot en los albores del siglo XX, desafiando las osadías de Stravinsky en Le Sacre du Printemps y la técnica del instrumento, abarcando la totalidad del registro, sin por ello dejar de ser deudora del más puro Romanticismo. La sonata para fagot y piano de Paul Hindemith es una pequeña joya en nuestro repertorio, a menudo minusvalorada en beneficio de otras. Su sonoridad sombría, oscura, jalonada de momentos de tímida luminosidad con acordes reconocibles como “tonales”, refleja el momento convulso que vivía Europa en 1938 y parece preludiar la debacle que se cernía sobre el planeta. La Sarabande et Cortège de Dutilleux es una pieza intimista, que explora dos de las características principales del sonido del fagot: la melancolía – a través de las largas
frases de la zarabanda – y el sentido del humor – en los juegos de articulación que definen el cortejo. Unos años más tarde, la sonatina de Tansman desarrolla las mismas ideas, destacando el canto del fagot en el segundo movimiento y el carácter malicioso del Scherzo final. Acercándonos al fin de siglo, las obras que he escogido de Boutry y Mignone se hallan separadas entre sí por un intervalo de apenas diez años, pero son exponentes de dos lenguajes opuestos: mientras Boutry se adentra en las diferentes combinaciones rítmicas y melódicas en un diálogo constante entre el fagot y el piano, generando el ambiente sonoro a través de estas “interferencias”, Mignone, en el ocaso de su vida, sintetiza en sus valsas para fagot solo el romanticismo europeo y la música brasileña, sus dos fuentes de inspiración principales. Finalmente, las variaciones de Alex Nante para flauta, fagot y piano cierran el disco y constituyen una aportación al repertorio escrito para esta formación, poco habitual a excepción del trío escrito por Beethoven en su juventud. La elección de esta obra se debe a dos razones: la amistad que me une a Alex desde que nuestros caminos se cruzaron en París y el profundo interés que despiertan su lenguaje musical y su forma de entender el mundo, que quedan perfectamente resumidos en la obra que he tenido el placer de estrenar. © written by Carmen Mainer Martín
Carmen Mainer Martín graduated in bassoon from the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón (CSMA), where she studied with Juan Sapiña. She has also had the opportunity to learn from bassoonists such as Sergio Azzolini, Gustavo Núñez, Amrei Liebold, Enrique Abargues, Stefano Canuti, Josep Borrás and Fany Maselli, in Spain, Italy and France. In Spain she has worked with orchestras including the Joven Orquesta de Euskal Herria (EGO), Joven Orquesta Internacional Oviedo Filarmonía (JOIOF) and Orquesta de Cámara del Maestrazgo, and in France with ensembles such as the wind quintet Le Concert Impromptu. In 2015 she won the Performance Prize awarded annually by the Colegio de España in Paris in cooperation with Spain’s National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM – part of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport). She has a master’s degree in Music and Musicology from the Sorbonne University in Paris and a degree in History of Art from the University of Zaragoza. As well as performing with contemporary music ensemble Écoute and the Gavarnie Ensemble, she is involved with the Paris Philharmonie’s DÉMOS outreach project and teaches bassoon at the Ville-d’Avray Conservatory and Georges Bizet Conservatory in Paris. In Autumn 2017, she was granted the Formación Artística Scholarship by the Provincial Delegation of Zaragoza, receiving tuition from David Tomàs-Realp in the first semester 2018.
Enrique Escartín Ara began his musical education at Huesca’s Miguel Fleta Music School, with its director Conrado Betrán, before moving on to study piano with Concepción Garralda at the same city’s Conservatorio Profesional. He then won a place at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, where he specialised in piano with Iván Cítera and chamber music with the Cuarteto Casals. During this period he also attended advanced courses in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria. Later he undertook postgraduate studies with pianist Josep Colom. Since 2007 he has taught piano accompaniment at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, participating in masterclasses and recitals with musicians such as trombonists Gilles Millière, Joe Alessi, Stefan Schulz, Jorgen van Rijen and Michel Becquet, bassoonists Gustavo Núñez, Guillaume Santana, Sergio Azzolini and Stefano Canuti, and flautists János Bálint, Clara Andrada, Emily Beynon, Juliette Hurel and Davide Formisano, among others. During 2014 he taught at Berlin’s University of the Arts, as part of the Erasmus programme. He also has a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Science from the University of Zaragoza.
Ana Mainer Martín graduated in flute from the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón and has a Master’s Degree in Music and Musicology from the Sorbonne University. She has also studied with flautists Peter-Lukas Graf, Vicens Prats, Claude Lefèbvre, Magdalena Martínez, Jaime Martín, Javier Castiblanque, Juana Guillem and Juan Carlos Chornet, among others, and regularly gives concerts in both Spain and France. She plays with groups such as contemporary music ensemble Écoute and the Gavarnie Ensemble, of which she is a founder member, and has a special interest in contemporary music, often performing pieces from the solo repertoire in concert. She received the jury’s Special Mention for the 2016 Colegio de España/INAEM Performance Prize. Part of the Paris Philharmonie’s DÉMOS outreach project, she is continuing her studies with Emily Beynon and with Carlos Bruneel, under whose guidance she is currently working towards a master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB). In Autumn 2017, she was granted the Formación Artística Scholarship by the Provincial Delegation of Zaragoza.
Actividad subvencionada por el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.
I’d like to thank my family; my teachers; the Colegio de España (Paris); the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Huesca; the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Zaragoza; and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón.
Recording: 28-31 August 2017, Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain. Recording Engineer and Editing: Gonzalo Noqué (Eudora Productions). Equipment: Neumann U89i (Rens Heijnis modified) and Schoeps microphones, Horus preamplifier and converter, Pyramix DAW. Executive Producer: Davidsbuendler, with the kind support of the Colegio de España in Paris and the INAEM (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport) Artists’ photos: Carmen by Alberto Pérez Puyal, Ana by Marién Martín Valdunciel, Enrique by Marcos Serrate Cover: Alberto Pérez Puyal p & © 2018 Brilliant Classics